ESPN adjusts its top four after the Patriots beat the Ravens and holds steady on the Falcons, only sliding them from fourth to seventh:
Even good teams lose road games, so let’s not overreact following rough game at Philly.
This is among the most sensible yet, and not because they ranked our team high. Losing a road game to another good team isn’t the end of the world and shouldn’t send teams plummeting, especially when just about every team now has at least one head-scratcher of a loss.
Now, if the Falcons lose to the Bengals at home this week, by all means let the floor open up.
WEEI drops the Falcons from fourth to ninth, and finally a media outlet recognizes the team’s issue is on offense, not defense:
The Falcons had their opportunity to prove they were the best team in the NFC but were beaten badly in Philadelphia. Michael Turner needs to be more consistent in the running game. Matt Ryan threw the ball over 40 times in the team’s loss to the Eagles.
Pete Prisco was higher on the Falcons than anybody else was, and now joins the majority in sliding the Birds to ninth:
They played four of their first six on the road. That’s tough. Now they come home to try to fix what went wrong in Philly.
That’s actually a good point, and one that even Falcons fans have neglected. This team has put up quite a few miles, traveling north of the Mason-Dixon three times and to Louisiana once. Of their remaining road games, only Seattle and St. Louis involve significant travel.