The Atlanta Falcons sit at 3-3 after their home loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 6. The good news is they remain half a game out of first place.
However, NFL analysts seem to have lost significant faith in Atlanta’s chances of being a playoff team this year.
The Falcons dropped at least five spots on the NFL power rankings from NFL.com, ESPN and Bleacher Report. The Falcons made the biggest plummet at ESPN. On ESPN’s power rankings, they fell from No. 16 last week to No. 23 heading into Week 7.
“Six weeks in, there’s not an obvious answer,” ESPN’s Michael Rothstein wrote about Desmond Ridder being the team’s franchise quarterback. “He has thrown five interceptions over the past three games, and three of the picks looked to be his clear mistake.
“There’s more data to look at, and Ridder is still young and growing into the role, but the Falcons can’t say with any certainty they have their quarterback of the future as Ridder is wildly inconsistent in the present. Which might end up being the answer in the long run.”
The Falcons dropped six spots to No. 22 on the NFL.com power rankings.
“Desmond Ridder followed up arguably the best game of his young career last week with arguably his worst — against a Commanders defense that just had 40 hung on it by the Bears,” NFL.com’s Eric Edholm wrote. “Ridder’s three picks (especially the last one) and two turnovers on downs did Atlanta in, raising questions about the quarterback and an offense that has failed to top 16 points in half the Falcons’ games.
“The defense had five sacks and allowed fewer than 200 yards, but it wasn’t enough.”
Bleacher Report rated the Falcons at No. 20 on their NFL power rankings.
ESPN, NFL.com and Bleacher Report all had the Falcons ranked third in the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints were ahead of the Falcons on all three power rankings.
