The national media has polarizing views on who the Falcons will be in 2023.
Adam Schein of NFL media dubbed Atlanta a stock to buy, noting the club is a bandwagon to get on before it’s too late. However, there are other outlets, like PFF, that still don’t believe in the Dirty Birds.
Pro Football Focus had one of the most outrageous takes for the 2023 Falcons.
In a piece exploring the strength of schedules, Amelia Probst had the Falcons projected win total at 6.5, even though Vegas’ pre-draft win total for Atlanta was 7.5 and rose to 8.5 following the NFL Draft. Moreover, Probst’s analysis pegs the Falcons as the second-easiest schedule in 2023.
Obviously, the oddsmakers, who actually have skin in the game, are higher on the Falcons than Probst, but it doesn’t end there. The Buccaneers’ 7.7 projected win total and Rams’ 8.9 win total were notable marks that should likely be below the Falcons. I digress, though.
Another crazy part of the story was the ‘easiest’ and ‘hardest’ games of the season. Atlanta’s easiest is the Cardinals and the hardest is Jaguars; that’s not where my displeasure lies. It’s the Saints’ easiest game — the Falcons.
Are you telling me the Saints’ easiest matchup isn’t the Buccaneers, Panthers, Rams, Bears, Colts, or Texans? No, it’s the Falcons.
Advanced analytics in sports have been a super interesting development in the last decade, but sometimes these people forget the game isn’t played on a spreadsheet. Models cannot account for another man’s will.
This is one of the craziest Falcons takes I have seen this offseason, but I imagine there will be more to come.
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