You’ve seen grim projections about the Falcons before, but have you seen “they won’t make the playoffs before the new decade” when we’re sitting in the year 2026? You’re about to.
ESPN put together a future power rankings article covering every NFL franchise, focusing on 2027 through 2029, and the Falcons ranked 27th out of 32 franchises for that span. Seth Walder, one of ESPN’s NFL analysts, had the following to say:
Bold prediction for 2027-29: The Falcons will not make the playoffs from 2027 to 2029. Atlanta needs a quarterback, but the current team isn’t bad enough to land a top-two pick. The Falcons could draft one next year, but they might have to give up some serious capital to trade up. And though there are building blocks on this team, I fear the Falcons could be caught in the middle — even in the NFC South.
On one hand, this seems wildly unfair. The Falcons are about to enter an offseason with a full complement of draft picks and a ton of cap space, and can fairly easily pivot to a new quarterback in 2027, even if they may have to pony up in terms of money or picks to do so. The roster is also far from bereft of talent, as the team has a trio of stud playmakers in Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and (pending proving it further in 2026) Kyle Pitts to go with plenty of intriguing young talent on defense.
On the other hand, it seems all too fair. The Falcons haven’t made the playoffs in eight seasons, and have proven time and time again that you can be kinda decent and promising and still finish with seven or eight wins and miss the playoffs. Walder is not being particularly irrational or hating on the Falcons making the point that they might well be stuck in the middle without some things breaking their way and a very savvy offseason or two ahead, as they’ve been in that space in seven out of the last eight years.
The article is an interesting one, and Benjamin Solak notes that a totally new regime and the team’s trio of playmakers are potential reasons for hope. But at the very least, the Falcons are fighting the perception they’re doomed to mediocrity no matter how many changes they make over the next few years, and must show us some real progress in 2026 to effectively battle that perception.
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