SI Fan Nation predicts Falcons to miss 2021 NFL playoffs

The Atlanta Falcons haven't won the NFC South in five years. The SI Fan Nation publishers don't expect that drought to end this fall.

In a poll of 28 writers, 25 picked the Falcons to finish in third or fourth place in the NFC South. The three remaining writers predicted the Falcons would finish in second place. But none of the 28 writers selected Atlanta for a playoff spot in the NFC.

All 28 writers picked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the NFC South. The Buccaneers are off to a good start, as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 31-29, to begin the season.

In the poll, the Green Bay Packers joined Tampa Bay as a consensus division winner pick. In the AFC, the Kansas City Chiefs were the only consensus division winner.

More than 60% of the writers in the poll selected the Falcons for third place in the NFC South. Atlanta received votes from eight writers to finish in last place.

The Falcons ended the 2020 season in last place with a 4-12 record. It was the first time the Falcons had finished in last since 2007 when they also went 4-12. The following year, Atlanta drafted Matt Ryan, won 11 games and made the playoffs after finishing in second place in the division.

Atlanta has never ended two consecutive seasons in the NFC South cellar. The last time the Falcons finished in last place in back-to-back years was 1989 and 1990 when the team played in the NFC West.

The 28 writers in the SI Fan Nation poll don't see a lot of change among the best teams in the NFL this year. The only teams that had multiple writers predict they'd win this season's Super Bowl were last year's championship game participants. Eight writers picked Kansas City to win the big game while Buffalo and Tampa Bay trailed just behind with seven writers each picking them. Four other writers predicted that Green Bay would win the Super Bowl.

Cleveland and New Orleans were the only other teams that had a writer in the poll pick them to win the Super Bowl. 

A vast majority of the writers also predicted the championship game matchups would be the same. Kansas City and Buffalo each received 22 votes to make the AFC Championship. In the NFC, Tampa Bay led the way with 25 votes while Green Bay received 18.

The only other teams with more than two writers picking them to make the championship game were the Los Angeles Rams (nine votes) and the Browns (eight).

Using the latest information available to me (Dallas' performance Thursday night and Baltimore's injuries), I have changed some of the predictions I submitted to the poll. But my championship game participants have remained the same.

In the NFC, I concur with the consensus, but in an effort to be a contrarian, I have selected the Pittsburgh Steelers to be my other AFC Championship Game participant besides Kansas City. Not necessarily because I believe the Steelers are better than the Bills or any other potential AFC contender heading into the season, but the Steelers have an elite defense and a veteran quarterback coming back now fully healthy who should throw the ball down the field more in a new offense. 

If the Bills and Chiefs are off the table (I put it off the table), the Steelers have as good a chance as anyone in the AFC of making a deep playoff run. We'll see how the Bills and Steelers match up in Week 1.

In the NFC South, I agree with the consensus, picking the Falcons to finish third and out of the playoffs. The schedule gives me hope that Atlanta can exceed expectations, but I'm not ready to declare the New Orleans Saints dead without Drew Brees, and I didn't want to pick three teams from the NFC South to make the postseason.

Check out all my 2021 NFL standings predictions below:

NFC South

1. Tampa Bay

2. New Orleans

3. Atlanta

4. Carolina

NFC North

1. Green Bay

2. Minnesota

3. Chicago

4. Detroit

NFC East

1. Dallas

2. Washington

3. Philadelphia

4. New York Giants

NFC West

1. Seattle Seahawks

2. San Francisco 49ers

3. Los Angeles Rams

4. Arizona Cardinals

NFC Wild Cards: San Francisco, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans

NFC Championship Game: Green Bay over Tampa Bay

AFC South

1. Tennessee

2. Indianapolis

3. Jacksonville

4. Houston

AFC North

1. Pittsburgh

2. Cleveland

3. Baltimore

4. Cincinnati

AFC East

1. Buffalo

2. Miami

3. New England

4. New York Jets

AFC West

1. Kansas City

2. Las Vegas

3. Los Angeles Chargers

4. Denver

AFC Wild Cards: Miami, Cleveland, Las Vegas

AFC Championship Game: Kansas City over Pittsburgh

Super Bowl: Kansas City over Green Bay