The NFC South is the division everyone loves to hate.
After the Falcons blew a golden opportunity to take control of the division, the Falcons, Bucs and Saints are now all tied for first place at 6-7 with four games to play.
“We know that we are not out of it,” Falcons safety Richie Grant said. “We’re still in it. We’re going to hold each other accountable. We are going to move on to next week after tomorrow.”
The Falcons missed two field goals, had a safety and the defense, which was playing strong, gave up a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the final three minutes of the game.
Grant was in coverage on the 11-yard touchdown pass from Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield to tight end Cade Otton with 31 seconds left in the game.
“Hell yeah, it was a good throw,” Grant said. “Otton made a good catch. It was a 50-50 ball. He came down with it. Just give them credit. They made a good play.”
Tampa is in first place based on their record (4-2) against common opponents. The Falcons are 3-3 in that key tie breaker. The Bucs are also 5-4 in the conference and the Falcons are 4-5, while they split the head-to-head meetings.
The Falcons (.365, 19-33) have the easiest schedule down the stretch based on the opponents’ won-loss records. They play at Carolina (1-12), host the Colts (7-6), play at the Bears (5-8) and close out on the road at New Orleans (6-7).
The Bears might be problematic as they beat the Lions on Sunday. The Lions drilled the Falcons 20-6 earlier in the season.
Tampa Bay (.403, 21-31) travels to play at Green Bay and it has two of its final three games at home. It hosts Jacksonville (8-5), the Saints (6-7) and close at the Panthers (1-12).
The Saints (.431, 22-29) host the New York Giants (4-8), play at the Los Angeles Rams (6-7), at Tampa Bay (6-7) and close with the Falcons (6-7). It could come down to if the Falcons can win in New Orleans.
The Packers and the Giants play on Monday night this week.
“At the end of the day, we are going to play our ball,” Grant said. “We’re going to swarm. We are going to be aggressive. It was just by playing our ball. Coaches are doing good job of mixing it up.
“It’s not always the same thing. If we play our ball, we have a pretty good chance of coming out with a W. We didn’t get it done today, but we still are in the hunt.”
The Falcons were frustrated with the loss because they made so many blunders.
“Absolutely, everything is still right there for us,” Grant said. “This one hurt. We knew what we wanted to do today, but we didn’t get it done. So, it definitely hurt, but we are still in it.”
But if the Falcons can’t string together some scoring drives during the regular course of the game, they’ll have trouble against the Colts, Saints and Bears. They can’t get caught looking past the Panthers, either.
The Falcons beat the Panthers 24-10 in the season opener. The Panthers have since fired head coach Frank Reich and have dropped two under interim coach Chris Tabor.
The Falcons’ offense was stagnant for seven possessions against the Bucs when they had two missed field goals, a safety and four punts. The Falcons opened with a field goal, interception and a touchdown before the drought.
The Falcons closed with touchdowns on their final two possessions.
Wide receiver Drake London, running back Bijan Robinson and tight end Kyle Pitts all made big plays, but the offense did not operate as a cohesive unit until they were down two scores and it was nearly too late.
“We missed plenty of opportunities out there just in this game,” quarterback Desmond Ridder said. “We (weren’t) worried about the weeks to come. We (were) worried about today. We missed plenty of opportunities out there today (and then) we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
London turned in a mega game with 10 catches for 172 yards.
“Drake obviously played his butt off out there,” Ridder said. “You know, early on obviously just getting a bunch of one-on-ones and then at some point you got to heat check him, which we did late and just gave him a ball which he could go get.
“He soared up higher than others and was able to go get it. Drake is heck of a competitor, heck of a player. Obviously, he wanted that last one more than anyone. You know, all we’re going to do is keep going back to work and getting better.”
London was stopped short on the 3-yard line on the final Hail Mary pass.
The Falcons believe they can still win the division and go to the playoffs.
“We’re not out of it,” London said. “We have to put up points and do all that. We’re not out of it. We’re going to keep on chugging and try to make our push into the playoffs.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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