Feel familiar? Just like last season, the Falcons are 6-4 after 10 games.
The team returns to practice on Monday following their bye week with plans to close out the season a lot differently.
Last year, the Falcons dropped four of their final six games to finish 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
They still hold the upper hand. The Falcons are in first place in the NFC South with a one-game lead over Tampa Bay (5-5) and a two-game lead over New Orleans (4-6) and Carolina (4-6). They host Arizona (4-5-1) on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
“We know the exciting challenge that’s in front of us after the bye,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “We have five of the six games in the NFC. So, we’ll be completely pumped for that.”
Here are five things the Falcons must accomplish down the stretch to avoid a collapse and return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2012 season:
1. Defend the Dome. Closing out their final season of the Georgia Dome, the Falcons have four games of their last six games at home. After the Cardinals, the Falcons host the Chiefs on Dec. 4, play at Los Angeles and then host San Francisco on Dec. 18. They then play at Carolina on Dec. 24 before closing out the Dome regular season schedule against New Orleans on Jan. 1.
The Falcons are 2-2 at home with losses to Tampa Bay and San Diego and victories over Carolina and Green Bay.
“Let’s hope that we can make it as loud as we possibly can … in the Dome,” Quinn said. “Our fans will be ready to rock and our team will be as well.”
2. Ryan must stay hot. Quarterback Matt Ryan is having the best season of his career and that must continue.
He’s completed 236 of 346 passes (68.2 percent) with 24 touchdown passes and just five interceptions. Ryan is averaging a league-leading 13.8 yards gained per completion.
At times, that has not been enough. The Falcons blew fourth-quarter leads against Seattle, San Diego and Philadelphia.
3. Get healthy. The Falcons received a blow over the offweek with the announcement that tight end Jacob Tamme will miss the remainder of the season. He had shoulder surgery to repair his A/C joint on Thursday.
Tamme has been replaced in the starting lineup the past two games by veteran Levine Toilolo. However, rookie tight end Austin Hooper played 55 of 73 snaps (55 percent) against Tampa Bay and 36 of 50 plays (72 percent) against Philadelphia.
Cornerback Desmond Trufant (shoulder/pectoral) has the next most serious injury coming out of the bye week. The Falcons are hoping that he can return to practice soon and believe he can return this season.
The severity of the muscle tear is the issue. A fully torn pectoral surgery requires surgery and a five-to-six month recovery period. Apparently, Trufant will attempt to play and then have offseason surgery.
Running back Tevin Coleman (hamstring) is also set to return and he could provide a spark to the offense.
4. Grow on defense. The Falcons' defense has to improve, especially against the run. The unit was just gashed for a season-high 208 yards by the Eagles on Nov. 13.
Arizona running back David Johnson, their next challenge, was a force in the Cardinals 30-24 loss to Minnesota on Sunday, rushing for 103 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. He also added seven catches for 57 yards and a receiving touchdown.
Quinn said that it was “frustrating” how the Eagles ran the football on the defense without doing anything special schematically. He simply said the unit was “out-executed.”
In addition to stopping the run, the defense must continue to create turnovers and hold teams to field goals attempts.
While playing four rookies and three second-year players, the Falcons don’t appear to have a shut-down unit. They must continue to be an opportunistic bend-but-not-break defense unless all of the young players take major steps forward in the final month.
5. Cut down on penalties. The Falcons have committed 83 penalties for 619 yards, 173 nullified yards and 22 first downs.
The focus is on the pre-snap and special teams penalties. Cornerback Robert Alford (nine), nickel back Brian Poole (seven) and right tackle Ryan Schraeder (seven) are the team leaders.
