The Falcoholic
The Atlanta Falcons had some daunting matchups heading into 2025, but a few of them turned out to be easier than expected. The Buffalo Bills were in a downswing when Atlanta saw them—though they did a very nice job of shutting them down, regardless—and the Vikings and Buccaneers have been far worse than expected. They hung tough against the Patriots and gave a game first half effort against the Seahawks before the wheels came off, and now they’ll have to dig very deep to stand a chance against the Los Angeles Rams.
At this point, the Rams are the team I expect to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The collapse against the Seahawks and inexplicable loss to the Panthers give me some pause, but there’s no other team with their mix of talent, coaching savvy, and relatively good health at the moment; only the Eagles and Seahawks are really in the conversation. The Falcons will need to be both good and lucky to stand a chance of knocking them off in primetime.
Here’s what you need to know about Monday Night Football.
The Falcons are a worse team across the board, to the surprise of exactly zero of you. They’re one of the few teams in the Rams’ neighborhood in terms of rushing and have fared better against opposing quarterbacks than the Rams, and have been a little less likely to give the ball away. But Los Angeles boasts a much more productive passing attack, a better run defense, and a more opportunistic defense in terms of turnovers; that’s part of why they’re 11-4 and the Falcons are 6-9.
The Falcons last saw Los Angeles in 2022, and while Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford are constants, there have been plenty of changes since then.
The team has gone from having an inconsistent rushing attack with Darrell Henderson and Cam Akers to an excellent one with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, have moved on from Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson in favor of Davante Adams and Puka Nacua, and have put together an impressive tight end room. The defense has been transformed, with Hall of Famer Aaron Donald retired and new faces like Jared Verse taking his place. What has not changed is that the Rams are one of the NFC’s premier contenders, and one of the scariest teams to face on a week-in, week-out basis.
They will be without Adams, however, which is about the only post-Christmas cheer I can offer here.
This is not going to be a fun one. Remember how I wrote that the Seahawks game was likely to be a bloodbath, and ultimately it was? That’s my expectation on steroids, given how good the Rams are and given how they’re smarting from a tough couple of weeks.
Can the Falcons win this one? Of course. They’ve nearly knocked off the Patriots, knocked off the Bills, and fought some...
