The season finale takes place against a familiar foe.
The Atlanta Falcons won’t have the luxury of knowing if they have a shot at the playoffs until after this game is over, as they’re playing at the same time as the division-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The chances are good this will be it, however.
The Falcons will want to win for reasons that range from pride to earning their first winning season since 2017, and the team that stands in their way is a Carolina Panthers squad that had been playing more spirited football before utterly collapsing last week against the Buccaneers. This an opportunity for Atlanta to show they’re closing out this season on a strong note and ready to make more noise in 2025 after winning just one of their past four season closers against divisional foes.
Winning will require putting the brakes on Bryce Young and the passing game, as the Panthers are down Chuba Hubbard, which makes the task of slowing their offense much more manageable. It will also require a strong day from this offense, but I’m pretty confident we’ll get that against a banged up Carolina defense that needs this season to be over.
We’ll round up all our coverage from Week 18’s game right here, so keep it open for a feed of every story, live thread, and recap from Falcons-Panthers.