The Falcons are still heavy favorites in the NFC South.
While the Falcons enjoyed their Week 12 bye week, the Bucs were busy beating up on the Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Tampa Bay came away with a 30-7 win over hapless New York, and per FanDuel Sportsbook, the odds of the Falcons taking the NFC South crown have fallen to -320.
Atlanta were -700 favorites last week after their ugly loss to Denver.
The Falcons swept the Buccaneers in the season series, so Atlanta will have a tiebreaker in their back pocket should things get extra weird down the stretch.
Atlanta will emerge from their bye week to play host to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Quarterback Justin Herbert was fantastic in the Chargers’ win over the Bengals last week, throwing for 297 yards and two touchdowns. He can definitely take advantage of Atlanta’s secondary, which has struggled in the last two weeks. The Falcons are currently allowing a 71.6 completion percentage, the worst in the league.
Los Angeles will host Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens tonight on Monday Night Football.
November has not been kind to Atlanta after an October where their offense raised eyebrows in the NFC. Quarterback Kirk Cousins will need to make adjustments against an LA defense that ranks top five in offensive yards allowed in 2024.
Tampa Bay hits the road on Sunday to take on the Panthers, so the Falcons will have added pressure to take care of business at home.
NFC standings heading into Week 13
1. Detroit Lions (10-1)
2. Philadelphia Eagles (9-2)
3. Seattle Seahawks (6-5, win over ARI, win over ATL)
4. Atlanta Falcons (6-5. loss to SEA)
5. Minnesota Vikings (9-2)
6. Green Bay Packers (8-3)
7. Washington Commanders (7-5)
8. Arizona Cardinals (6-5, loss to SEA)
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6, 5-3 NFC)
10. Los Angeles Rams (5-6, win over SF, 3-5 NFC)
11. San Francisco 49ers (5-6, loss to LAR)
12. New Orleans Saints (4-7, 3-4 NFC)
13. Chicago Bears (4-7, 2-4 NFC)
14. Dallas Cowboys (4-7, 2-5 NFC)
15. Carolina Panthers (3-8)
16. New York Giants (2-9)
NFC South standings
- Atlanta Falcons, 6-5
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 5-6
- New Orleans Saints, 4-7
- Carolina Panthers, 3-8