It is sort of startling that the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers are not playing for the division this Sunday, or fighting for one playoff spot, or anything like that. Instead, the Saints have a good chance of locking up the NFC South Sunday, the Panthers are locked in as a #3 or #4 seed, and the Falcons are fighting just to make the postseason. Things have not quite gone as planned, it would be fair to say.
Even so, Atlanta has a shot to make the playoffs here, which is more than many Super Bowl-losing teams can say the next year.