The stretch run begins now.
The defending NFC champion Falcons are still trying to shake off a blown 25-point lead in Super Bowl LI. They have managed a wobbly 4-3 start to this season. Starting with Sunday’s road game against the Panthers, the Falcons face NFC South opponents in six of the final nine regular-season games.
“Back at the beginning of the offseason, training camp and the regular season, we put an emphasis on the division,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Monday. “Now, we finally get back to do that. They are special because you only get six of them. This happens to be our first one. We are expecting a straight-up battle with them up in Charlotte.”
The Falcons won the division last season to break Carolina’s three-year stranglehold on the NFC South. Before the Panthers took control, the title essentially rotated since the NFL established the division in 2002.
Before Carolina’s reign from 2013-15, no team repeated as division champions.
NFC South teams have reached the Super Bowl five times, with Tampa Bay winning Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 and New Orleans winning Super Bowl XLIV in 2010. The Panthers have two Super Bowl losses and the Falcons have one.
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“It does seem unusual to have the division games not start until here in November, but it will certainly make for an exciting second half so to speak with six of our (final) nine being division games,” Quinn said.
The Saints (5-2) have caught fire and won their past five games, including three road wins. They’ve found some answers for what had been a leaky defense and have unleashed rookie running back Alvin Kamara (Norcross High, Alabama and Tennessee). Kamara has worked well in tandem with running back Mark Ingram. Kamara has 42 rushes for 243 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 31 catches for 257 yards and one touchdown. Cam Jordan leads the defense and has 5.5 sacks and rookie Marshon Lattimore has helped to stabilize the suspect secondary.
The Panthers (5-3) are also playing strong, riding their defense through some uneven performances from quarterback Cam Newton. They haven’t given up a touchdown in the past two games and are coming off a 17-3 win over Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers (2-5), who many thought were ready to contend for the title, have been a disappointment. Quarterback Jameis Winston, who’s playing with an injured shoulder, can’t get the ball deep to prized free-agent signee wide receiver DeSean Jackson.
While the Falcons are at least standing, the Bucs’ title hopes are on life-support.
“For us it’s just about this week and how we’ll go about it,” Quinn said. “We look at it like a fight. How do you win this round, this fight.”
The Falcons know they must continue to stop the run against the Panthers. On Sunday, they held the Jets to 43 yards on 22 carries after giving up more than 100 yards to the each opponent during a just-snapped three-game losing streak.
“Everybody played their gap and we shut it down,” defensive end Adrian Clayborn said about the 25-20 win over the Jets. “The reason we were giving up yards the last couple of weeks is because we’ve been damaging ourselves. Hurting ourselves. We shut down the run and we played our gaps. That’s how we got it done.”
The Falcons hope the win over the Jets helps get their season back on track. If the playoffs started today, the Panthers and Saints would be in. The Falcons would be at home.
“Don’t get down on yourself and keep playing,” said defensive tackle Dontari Poe on the low point of the season. “Just keep playing. It’s just not too much to it. Just keep playing football. Knowing that we are still at the beginning and we still have a lot to go.”
The Falcons hope they are ready to get hot and make a major surge over the second half of the season, much as they did last season when they were also 4-3 after seven games.
“It was definitely big for us,” wide receiver Mohamed Sanu said of the Jets’ win. “Now, we just have to keep stacking them. Keep preparing. Keep working. Watch film and fix the details and just keep getting better.”
In addition to the divisional games, the Falcons also face NFC playoff contenders Dallas (4-3) on Nov. 12 at home, Seattle (5-2) on Nov. 20 on the road and Minnesota (6-2) on Dec. 3 at home.
“I don’t look at who we are playing,” wide receiver Julio Jones said. “It’s all about us and the way that we prepare.”
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