The Falcons (6-8) and currently are 10th in line for the one of the seven seeds in the NFC playoffs. The top seven teams qualify.

If the Falcons win out, their playoff chances would increase to 70%.

If they lose out, the Falcons could leap into the top five of the NFL draft and have a shot to draft one of the top quarterbacks.

USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy are projected as the top four quarterback in next year’s draft.

Even if the Falcons win out, they likely would need to consider trading to the top of the draft to get Williams, Maye or the dynamic Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy and was the AP national player of the year.

Falcons coach Arthur Smith played at North Carolina and will have some good references on Maye.

We’re not real high on Williams over here at the Cover 9@9 blog.

Daniels or Maye would be fine. Let someone else, who’s more comfortable with their quarterbacks painting their fingernails, have Williams.

2. Nasty Nate is back: The Falcons’ defense received a boost from the return of linebacker Nate Landman, who missed the game against the Bucs with an ankle injury. In the loss to the Panthers, the defense gave up a 17-play, 90-yard drive that ended with the game-winning field goal.

“We just have to be able to finish,” Landman told The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Monday. “I don’t know what it is or what we have to do. We have to get back to the drawing board when the game is on the line and the defense is out there, that’s what we want. We just need to bow up and get it done next time. It’s something that we’ve been struggling with.”

Landman believes the team’s morale is fine.

“We understand that was a tough loss,” Landman said. “We’re not happy about it obviously. But you have to move on, and we got to go 1-0 this week.”

The Falcons are hoping to revive their playoff hopes.

“We’re not out of it by any means,” Landman said. “We’re not in the position we want to be in. We have to lick our wounds on this one. We’re not happy with the results. Obviously, we feel like we gave that one away. It’s time to move on. We’ve got a good opponent coming in this week.”

3. Colts are hot: The Falcons are set to face one of the league’s hottest teams in the Indianapolis Colts.

The Colts (8-6) have won five of the past six games and currently are the seventh seed for the playoffs in the AFC. They are set to face the Falcons (6-8) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Colts are coming off a 30-18 win over the Steelers, while the Falcons lost 9-7 to the Panthers.

4. Minshew slinging it around: The Colts drafted former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft. He was injured early in the season. Over the offseason, they signed Gardner Minshew on March 17.

The Falcons signed Heinicke on March 16.

Minshew has completed 257 of 406 passes (63.3%) for 2,739 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has a passer rating of 86.2.

Minshew is coming off his best game of the season. Minshew completed 18 of 28 passes for 215 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, didn’t have an interception and had a season-high passer rating of 123.4 against the Steelers.

“He was concise with his reads, his decisions, getting the ball out of his hands quick, and making plays,” Colts coach Shane Steichen told the Indianapolis media. “He just operates at a high level.”

Credit: John Amis/AP

Credit: John Amis/AP

5. Sprayberry’s Trey Sermon is with the Colts: The Colts leaned on their rushing attack in the win over the Steelers. They rushed 34 times for 170 yards.

Running back Trey Sermon, who played at Sprayberry High before going to Oklahoma and Ohio State, rushed 17 times for 88 yards (5.2 per carry) against the Steelers. Tyler Goodson had 11 carries for 69 yards and a long run of 31 yards.

6. Kazee suspended: The Colts’ top receiver is Michael Pittman, who has 99 catches for 1,062 yards and four touchdowns. He was knocked out of the game Sunday on an illegal hit by Steelers safety Damontae Kazee. The former Falcon was suspended for the rest of the season for “repeated violations” of the rule against hitting a defenseless player’s head or neck.

Pittman suffered a concussion and started the week in the league’s concussion protocol system.

7. Colts with Georgia connections: Rookie Josh Downs, who played at North Gwinnett High and North Carolina, has 57 catches for 631 yards and three touchdowns.

In addition to Sermon and Downs, the Colts have several players with Georgia ties including cornerback Darrell Baker (Hephzibah, Georgia Southern), defensive end Isaiah Land (Grayson High), wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie (Georgia), safety Kenny Moore II (Lowndes, Valdosta State) and defensive tackle Grover Stewart (Mitchell County, Albany State).

Also, former Falcons cornerback Darren Hall is on the Colts practice squad.

8. Series history: This will be the 18th meeting. The Colts lead the series 15-2 and have won the past two meetings.

9A. Where to watch, listen and livestream: What you should know about Sunday’s game between the Falcons (6-8) and the Indianapolis Colts (8-6), which is set for 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

TV: Fox. Play-by-Play: Adam Amin. Analyst: Mark Schlereth. Sideline: Kristina Pink.

National radio: Compass Media Network. Play-by-Play: Bill Rosinski. Analyst: Brian Baldinger.

Local radio: 92.9 The Game. Play-by-play: Wes Durham. Analyst: Dave Archer. Executive producer: Beau Morgan. Engineer: Miller Pope. Pregame/postgame show – Hosts: Chris Goforth and Mike Johnson, with Dylan Matthews and Orin Romain as studio producers at 11 a.m.

Satellite radio: SiriusXM NFL Radio. Falcons channel 85, 225 or the app Colts 137, 380 or the app. (Games also are available on the SiriusXM app. Fans can find their team’s channel under the “NFL Play-by-Play” tab or by searching for their team’s name.)

Livestream: Streaming inside the Atlanta market: Fans in the Atlanta market can stream the game on the Atlanta Falcons app, NFL app (subscription required). Out of the country: GamePass International.

9B. Depth chart: The Falcons are hoping to get some of their starters back.

Right tackle Kaleb McGary (right knee), defensive tackle David Onyemata (left ankle) and center Drew Dalman (right ankle) did not play against the Panthers on Sunday.

Here’s the depth chart for the Colts’ game:

OFFENSE

WR Mack Hollins, KhaDarel Hodge

TE Kyle Pitts, John FitzPatrick

LT Jake Matthews

LG Matthew Bergeron, Jovaughn Gwyn

C Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil

RG Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton

RT Kaleb McGary, Storm Norton

TE Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt

WR Drake London, Scotty Miller, Van Jefferson

FB Keith Smith (Team list him as Pitts backup, but he lines up at fullback in games)

RB Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier

Joker Cordarrelle Patterson

QB Taylor Heinicke, Desmond Ridder, Logan Woodside

DEFENSE

DL Albert Huggins, LaCale London, Travis Bell

DL David Onyemata, Ta’Quon Graham

DE Calais Campbell, Zach Harrison, Joe Gaziano

OLB Bud Dupree, Lorenzo Carter

ILB Kaden Elliss

ILB Nate Landman, Andre Smith Jr.

OLB Arnold Ebiketie, DeAngelo Malone

CB A.J. Terrell, Mike Hughes

S Jessie Bates III, Micah Abernathy

S DeMarcco Hellams, Richie Grant

NB Dee Alford, Mike Hughes

CB Jeff Okudah, Clark Phillips III, Tre Flowers

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Younghoe Koo

P Bradley Pinion

LS Liam McCullough

H Bradley Pinion

PR Dee Alford, Scotty Miller, Mike Hughes, Bijan Robinson

KOR Cordarrelle Patterson, Mike Hughes

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