Over the past few seasons the Atlanta Falcons have firmly emerged as one of the NFL's elite teams. Last season, they managed to sneak by the Seattle Seahawks and into the NFC Championship game, where quarterback Matt Ryan and the offense couldn't overcome Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers.
This season, however, they're clear favorites to take the NFC South ahead of the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers, despite the Saints and Bucs being labeled as their chief competition.
The Falcons have one of the tougher schedules in the league, and here's a closer look at the difficult season they have ahead of them below:
Week Date, Opponent, Time (ET), TV
1 Sept. 8 @ New Orleans 1 p.m., FOX
2 Sept. 15 vs. St. Louis 1 p.m., FOX
3 Sept. 22 @ Miami 4:05 p.m., FOX
4 Sept. 29 vs. New England 8:30 p.m., NBC
5 Oct. 7 vs. New York Jets 8:30 p.m., ESPN
6 BYE
7 Oct. 20 vs. Tampa Bay 1 p.m., FOX
8 Oct. 27 @ Arizona 4:25 p.m., FOX
9 Nov. 3 @ Carolina 1 p.m. FOX 10
10 Nov. 10 vs. Seattle 1 p.m., FOX
11 Nov. 17 @ Tampa Bay 1 p.m., FOX
12 Nov. 21 vs. New Orleans 8:25 p.m., NFL
13 Dec. 1 @ Buffalo 4:05 p.m., FOX
14 Dec. 8 @ Green Bay 8:30 p.m., NBC
15 Dec. 15 vs. Washington 1 p.m., FOX
16 Dec. 23 @ San Francisco 8:30 p.m., ESPN
17 Dec. 29 vs. Carolina 1 p.m., FOX
