The sideline-stalking owner in a happier moment. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC photo)

Credit: Mark Bradley

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Credit: Mark Bradley

The Atlanta Falcons aren't just a 5-9 team. They're a 5-9 team that still might win the NFC South. In a way, that makes things tougher. Were they 5-9 in the AFC North, Arthur Blank's course would be clearer. He could choose to fire Mike Smith and/or Thomas Dimitroff -- or he could choose to fire neither -- without having to ask, "But what if we win our next three games and upset Green Bay in Round 2?"

So today I'm asking for a bit of audience participation. You tell me (and perhaps A.M. Blank, who reads everything): What should be done? The polls below -- there are four, so keep scrolling -- reflect contingencies, and you can avail yourselves of any and all.

[polldaddy poll=8525486]

[polldaddy poll=8525491]

[polldaddy poll=8525497]

[polldaddy poll=8525501]

You'll note that I've stopped short of the Birds reaching the Super Bowl. I'm crazy, but not that crazy.

From myajc: Would making the playoffs help or hurt the Falcons?

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT