Favorable Remaining Schedule Could Aid Falcons' Playoff Push

After starting the season with four wins and only one loss, the Atlanta Falcons have lost four times in their last five games and see themselves sitting on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. At 5-5, the Falcons have a lot of work to do to ensure a spot in the post-season, but the team hasn't given up yet and they have a favorable schedule ahead to work with.

Head Coach Mike Smith spent time in the locker room after a Sunday loss to the New York Giants talking about the tough stretch the Falcons have gone through and how the Falcons play four of their final six games in the friendly Georgia Dome, a place where they haven't lost all season. "What I told our team is that we've been through a long road in terms of the last six weeks", said Smith. "Four out of the six games we've played have been against teams that have been coming off the byes. I also told them that we are looking forward to having a three-game home stand."

Not only did the Falcons suffer from that scheduling anomaly of facing multiple bye week teams, but they also were hurt by spending so much time on the road lately. From Week 3 through Week 11, Atlanta has only played two home games. For a team that plays so well at home and conversely so poorly away from Atlanta, it's easy to see how the Falcons have dug themselves into this hole.

The hole that Atlanta sits in right now isn't necessarily too deep to get out of. It will likely take a 4-2 record for the remainder of the season to have a shot at the playoffs -- it may even take five wins. Luckily for the Falcons the six games left on the schedule show hope.

Looking at Atlanta's five losses this season, this team typically fares poorly against teams that feature high-powered passing offenses. Quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Tony Romo and Drew Brees have all notched victories throwing against Atlanta's suspect defensive secondary. Even Eli Manning, on Sunday, threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns to beat the Falcons. But the Falcons get a reprieve of sorts moving forward.

Tampa Bay is on the Falcons schedule twice. Josh Freeman has shown signs of brilliance in his short tenure with the Buccaneers, but the team still features the 27th-ranked passing offense and has many other holes for the Falcons to exploit.

The Falcons face another rookie-led team in the New York Jets. While that is an away game for the Falcons, Mark Sanchez looks like the real-deal at quarterback but also lapses into moments of looking like a rookie. The Jets own the 28th-ranked passing offense and if Atlanta can slow Thomas Jones they'll have a good chance of leaving New York with at least one victory this season.

The final, very favorable matchup filling out the schedule is Buffalo. The Bills rank 25th in the NFL in passing and have two quarterbacks in Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards who are fighting for playing time, but dazzling nobody.

So, if the Falcons can win those four games they'll stand only one win away from a double-digit win season. They'll likely need to beat either Philadelphia or New Orleans at home to seal a playoff spot. New Orleans is unbeaten at 11-0 but records aren't usually a factor when the Falcons and Saints get together. The Eagles bring a storied quarterback with them to visit Atlanta, but Donovan McNabb has only one 300-plus yard passing game and barely cracks the top-20 in passing yards among NFL quarterbacks.

Anything can happen over the final six weeks of the season, and you can be sure that the Falcons wish they weren't sitting at five wins needing to make a huge push to make the playoffs. Defensive end John Abraham feels the team still has a shot at a Wildcard spot. "I don't think we're completely out of it so we still have an opportunity to be up there.", said Abraham after the game on Sunday. "It's going to be an uphill battle from here, but we have to keep trucking."

An uphill battle yes -- but a winnable battle nonetheless.