The Falcons have faith they have the right people in the building.

Safety was one of those best of times, worst of times positions for the Atlanta Falcons in 2023. When things were going well—90% of Jessie Bates’ games, early encouraging efforts from Richie Grant, DeMarcco Hellams seizing a role—safety was undoubtedly a strength for the defense. When they weren’t—rare Bates lapses, Grant’s coverage woes, Hellams looking like the rookie he was—it was a problem.

Given that, I was very interested to see what a coaching staff heavy on defensive backs coaches would do with safety beyond thank their lucky...

There are still a couple of fish in the sea, but Carolina’s depth at this key position is frightening some fans

The results are in and, to no great surprise, Carolina Panthers fans are most concerned about the team’s collection of talent at cornerback. We asked you which position group worried you the most now that the dust from the 2024 NFL Draft and free agency has settled. 40% of y’all said corner, with another 21% still expressing your concerns with Bryce Young.

The quarterback questions are real, but certainly not at the top of my mind. This year is...

Our writers weigh in on the slate ahead.

The Atlanta Falcons schedule has landed, and with that and the offseason mostly wrapped up, it’s a reasonable time to start thinking about how this season is going to go.

I pulled together The Falcoholic equivalent of the Justice League—we don’t do much fighting, but we do some writing—in order to give thoughts on season predictions, easiest and toughest matchups, and the one game we’re circling on our desk calendars. Once you read ours, please be sure to share yours.

Record prediction: 9-8

Easiest matchup: Week 17 at Commanders

**Toughest...

53% of voters said...

Earlier this week, we asked readers where they thought the New Orleans Saints will finish in the division this year.

53% of the voters think the Saints will re-claim the title of division champions and come in 1st place in the NFC South. Now that the schedule is out, we know that the Saints will get to open the season at home, star in 3 primetime games and have a late November bye week.

Given that the Saints have one of the easiest schedules this year, fans seem fairly confident in the team’s ability to come...

Here’s a fresh weekend open thread just for you.

Feel free to use this thread to hang out over the weekend and chat about whatever you want (just make sure you follow the ToS ... the rules still apply here) with anyone who decides to stick around.

This is now an open thread!

In this series, we break down the Panthers 2024 schedule piece by piece

With the 2024 NFL schedule officially released in full on Wednesday night, we now have a clearer picture of the road the Panthers will have to take in the first season of the D&D (Dan and Dave) Era. Will the season end up being a natural 20 or a critical fail? Let’s take a look at the matchups during the second quarter of the season.

Week 5: Panthers at Bears, October 6th, 1:00pm, FOX

Well, well, well. Look who it is. It’s the team that could...

The Falcons’ selection of Michael Penix Jr. was as exciting as it was controversial, with opinions on the move varying wildly across the media and fanbase. Host Kevin Knight is joined by Will McFadden (Bleav in Falcons) for an optimistic take on the pick.

Fellow Falcoholics, welcome to another episode of the Dirty Birds and Brews podcast! The Atlanta Falcons selection of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was as exciting as it was controversial, with opinions on the move varying wildly across the media and fanbase. Host Kevin Knight is joined by Will McFadden (Bleav in Falcons) for an optimistic take...

Which player should the Saints bring in to bolster the roster?

In this week’s CSC poll, we asked our readers which remaining free agent they would like to see the New Orleans Saints sign:

After 157 votes, former Commanders and Bears LT Charles Leno won with 34.4% of the vote. Clearly in favor of bringing in another tackle, even after drafting Taliese Fuaga in the first round of the draft, Leno is a free agent after spending three years in Washington and seven in Chicago. The Saints could bring Leno in as a veteran backup to Trevor Penning who could...

The NFL schedule is out, so of course odds are too

The Carolina Panthers are set to open their 2024 season on the road against the New Orleans Saints. They are also, as is to be expected, opening as underdogs. In fact, the Panthers are joined by the New England Patriots as the only two teams in the NFL who are opening all 17 games as underdogs. What an honor.

Those lines will obviously shift some, even the New Orleans line has room for movement as news from training camp and the preseason adjusts expectations. But for now, take a...

Let's look at the first 6 games of this season.

The NFL officially released the 18-week schedule for all 32 teams on Wednesday, revealing a tough start for the New Orleans Saints.

Although the Saints will open the season by hosting the Carolina Panthers, who bolstered the worst record in the NFL in 2023, their next five matchups will be tough. The Saints will travel to Dallas for their Week 2 matchup with the regular season merchant Dallas Cowboys who have posted three consecutive 12-win seasons. New Orleans will continue to face NFC East opponents when they host the Philidelphia...

After the schedule has come out, experts have shared the distances that each NFL team will travel.

As the 2024 schedule was released for all 32 teams in the NFL, it’s always fun to look at the distances traveled by each franchise.

The New Orleans Saints will have one of the shortest distances traveled at 13,084 miles. This season they will travel through a different time zone 14 times. The Los Angeles Chargers will travel 26,803 miles for their schedule followed by the Miami Dolphins at 25,869.

The Black and Gold will travel to Dallas, Atlanta, Kansas City, Los Angeles,...

The Carolina Panthers caught some nice breaks in the schedule as it pertains to their divisional aspirations.

The NFL made much ado about releasing the scheduling of games that we already knew about earlier this week, and we’re going to look at that schedule from every possible angle. The Carolina Panthers got a very friendly schedule from the league office, and should the team be competitive, it gives them an advantage over their NFC South brethren.

The Panthers get a tough divisional game out of the way right out of the gate. They visit the New Orleans Saints in Week...