The Atlanta Falcons are tied with the Carolina Panthers at seven seasons for the second-longest streak of missing the NFL Playoffs. The New York Jets are the runaway leader with a 14-year absence.
On Monday, CBS Sports writer Garrett Podell ranked the six NFL teams with the longest active playoff droughts, ordering them from least to most likely to end their droughts this upcoming season. The team he thinks is most likely to end their playoff hiatus: the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons were one play away from back-to-back NFC Championship berths in 2017, but they haven’t had a winning season, much less a playoff berth, since then. Podell believes this will change for Atlanta in 2025.
The Falcons are nearly even money to make the playoffs this season at +155 ($10 to win $15.50), according to DraftKings.
Much rides on the strong left arm of second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
“The Falcons could take a big leap forward with 2024 eighth overall pick Michael Penix Jr. starting out 2025 as their quarterback instead of the aging Kirk Cousins. Cousins looked exactly like a 36-year-old coming off a torn Achilles last season,” Podell wrote.
First-year offensive coordinator was handcuffed by Cousins’s limitations, a handicap he shouldn’t face in 2025.
“Last season, new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was tasked to build an offense designed to cover up Cousins' inability to move around,” wrote Podell. “That led to the Falcons having the NFL's lowest play-action pass rate (7.6%) by a wide spread.”
Penix can add a whole new dimension to the offense: play-action passing. He may not be as mobile as Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen, but Penix can maneuver within the pocket and even run if he has to. In Week 18, he had a five-yard rushing touchdown against the Carolina Panthers.
Even with the limitations from Cousins and a three-game cameo from Penix, the Falcons still finished No. 6 in total offense in 2024. The bigger problems were on defense, particularly the pass rush.
Through the first 11 games of the season, the Falcons registered just 10 sacks, not even good enough for a sack a game. This offseason, the Falcons focused on fixing the pass rush. They signed Leonard Floyd to a one-year, $10 million contract. They also double dipped at pass rusher in the first round: drafting Georgia’s Jalon Walker at 15 and then trading back up to 26 to snag Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr.
Floyd has recorded 8.5 sacks or more in each of the last five seasons. Walker has had five or more sacks in each of the last two seasons. Pearce has added 7.5 or more sacks in each of the last two seasons. The Falcons hope these three additions have a big impact on their pass rush in the upcoming season.
“Those defensive additions in tandem with a more versatile offense with Penix, could lift the Falcons to a higher level. That could power Atlanta back to the postseason out of an NFC South division that always feels up for grabs,” Podell wrote on CBS Sports.
With a revamped defense and the reintroduction of play-action passing into the offense, Podell believes the Atlanta Falcons can find themselves back in the playoffs in 2025.
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