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Listen to NFL Vegas sharps RJ Bell and Steve Fezzik join Jonas Knox on ‘Straight Out of Vegas’ to preview the 19th ranked team on their 2020 win/total prediction rankings, the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons are sadly still suffering from the post-traumatic stress of their infamous Super Bowl choke job versus the Patriots in February of 2017, as a loaded roster who seemed primed for a 3 to 4 year stretch of winning 13 games every year disintegrated into the ether.
Atlanta would go 24-24 the next three seasons and steadily decline from a terrifying NFC juggernaut to a soft and irrelevant NFC South plebeian.
Despite still boasting familiar faces like head coach Dan Quinn, former MVP quarterback Matt Ryan, and future Hall of Fame wide receiver Julio Jones, the Falcons never got much else from running back Devonta Freeman after 2017, who went from budding star to salary cap casualty in one fell swoop, causing Atlanta’s running attack to crumble last season – ranking just 30th in rushing in 2019.
Atlanta showed some glimpses of their esteemed potential at times last year, miraculously winning on the road Week 15 in San Francisco as the 49ers were still fighting to win the NFC West over Seattle, but also rattled off some of the worst stretches of football in the league, as they pathetically lost 7 of their first 8 games to begin the season last year.
In the offseason the Falcons acquired tight end Hayden Hurst in a trade with the Ravens, signed running back Todd Gurley from the Rams, and linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. from the Rams as well.
Notable Falcons losses include Vic Beasley Jr, Desmond Trufant, De’Vondre Campbell, and Adrian Clayborn.
Atlanta is 40/1 odds to win the Super Bowl, 22/1 to win the NFC, 9/1 to win the NFC South, and 2/1 to make the playoffs.
Check out the entire segment above.