Not everybody is a fan of the Atlanta Falcons and their off-season decisions. It's like mint chocolate chip ice cream. You understand why someone could enjoy it, but you don't like it yourself. There's the price paid to a 36-year-old Kirk Cousins coming off an Achilles injury and the tampering charge that comes with it, combine that with the complicated planning for life after Cousins by taking Michael Penix, Jr. with the eighth pick in the 2024 draft, it can easily be construed as a questionable off-season at best. Even with those things, there are plenty of off-season acquisitions to be excited about, so they are clearly a playoff contender in the NFC. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio ranks the Falcons as only contenders. In Florio's pre-training camp power rankings, Atlanta ranks 19th, a surprisingly low ranking for a team with the talent on this roster.
All complaints are welcome and expected. pic.twitter.com/U1MBtb73bE
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 24, 2024
As far as the NFC picture goes, Atlanta ranks as the ninth-best team in the NFC behind:
- 2) San Francisco 49ers
- 3) Detroit Lions
- 5) Philadelphia Eagles
- 6) Green Bay Packers
- 9) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 13) Los Angeles Rams
- 16) Dallas Cowboys and
- 18) Chicago Bears
Most recently, Florio was not a fan of Atlanta's "slap on the wrist" punishment for tampering to acquire Cousins, so seeing how low the Falcons are ranked afterward, it's probably not connected, but it certainly won't help things.
