What’s at stake for Falcons in regular-season finale?
FLOWERY BRANCH — The NFC South division title and a possible playoff berth will be at stake when the Falcons (8-8) host the Panthers (4-12) in the regular-season finale at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons will need some help from the Saints (5-11), who play the Buccaneers (9-7) in Tampa, also at 1 p.m.
With a win, the Bucs would claim their fourth consecutive NFC South title and head to the playoffs as the fourth seed and would host a game.
The Falcons need a win and a Bucs loss to claim the division title and go to the playoffs. The Falcons own the tiebreaker because they beat the Bucs twice this season.
Based on Pro Football Network’s win probability model, which ran 10,000 simulations via the Playoff Predictor, the Bucs have a 81.2% chance to beat the Saints and the Falcons have a 63.2% chance of beating the Panthers.
The Falcons’ probability of making the playoffs is 11%, according to Next Gen Stats. The Bucs’ probability is 89%.
The Falcons have not had a winning season nor have they ge to the playoffs since they were 11-5 in 2017. That season the Falcons won in the wild-card round and lost in the divisional round.
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
