The rumors leading into the NFL’s schedule release this week were true: The Atlanta Falcons will be all over primetime TV this season.
The Falcons schedule comes complete with two Monday Night Football games – both hosted at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – in addition to two appearances on Sunday Night Football and one more on Thursday night.
In the team’s two Monday night games, the team will host the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen in Week 6, then in the penultimate week of the regular season host Sean McVay’s Rams. The two Sunday night games are at the Vikings in Week 2 and at the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7. The team will then play twice more in front of national audiences next season – an international game against the Colts in Germany in Week 10, then what could be a pivotal Thursday night divisional game late in the season against the Buccaneers on the road in Week 15.
In total, it’s a slate that is only made possible when the NFL thinks a team is going to at least be exciting, if not also a success. Second-year Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. got a taste of primetime on the road in Washington D.C. late last year, and led the team on multiple crucial drives in the final two minutes.
The NFL was clearly intrigued enough by Penix’s play in tandem with the Falcons young corps of offensive playmakers, headlined by Bijan Robinson and Drake London, to draw national intrigue. The team is also likely to be locked in a tight race to make the playoffs, be it as a potential division champion or wild card.