The Falcons have a long and nearly impossible road to the playoffs after a 1-5 start. With ten games remaining, the team would pretty much have to run the table to save its season.
As we pointed out on Tuesday, Atlanta has the NFL’s toughest-ranked schedule over the remaining 11 weeks of the year.
The Falcons still have to play all six of their divisional games, which means they will face seven more quarterbacks in 2019.
We ranked all seven of those signal-callers below.
7. Jaguars QB: Garner Minshew
2019 Stats: 63.9 completion percentage, 1,442 passing yards, 9 TD passes, 2 INTs, QB rating: 97.5
Minshew’s legend continues to grow while the Jaguars continue to plummet. At 2-4, the team at least looks to have found a potential long-term answer at quarterback if the season goes completely off the rails. Minshew, 23, has a passer rating just under 100, with nine touchdown passes and two interceptions. His lack of experience may land him at the bottom of this list, but the hype around Minshew is legit.
6. Panthers QB: Kyle Allen
Stats: 65.6 completion percentage, 901 passing yards, 7 TD passes, 0 INTs, QB rating: 106.5
Kyle Allen is like Gardner Minshew if he were filling in for Cam Newton instead of Nick Foles. The QB controversy is growing in Carolina as Allen has yet to throw an interception — with an impressive seven touchdowns and a passer rating of 106.5. Newton’s still the better talent but the 4-2 Panthers are feeling confident with Allen at quarterback, for the moment at least.
5. Rams QB: Jared Goff
Stats: 62.2 completion percentage, 1,727 passing yards, 7 TD passes, 7 INTs, QB rating: 80.8
Goff is having a bad season, despite throwing for a ton of yards. After an MVP-caliber year in 2018, he’s thrown for just seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in six games. The team has struggled because of it, now sitting at 3-3 heading into its Week 7 matchup with the Falcons.
4. Bucs QB: Jameis Winston
Stats: 60.0 completion percentage, 1,771 passing yards, 12 TD passes, 10 INTs, QB rating: 84.9
It’s one step forward, two steps back for Jameis Winston in 2019. He’s had some unbelievable games and also thrown some rookie-level interceptions. Bucs head coach Bruce Arians still has his work cut out for him if he’s going to unlock more of Winston’s good traits and get him to cut down on the turnovers. His talent makes him a threat to go off any given week, but Winston just needs to become a more consistent quarterback to take that next step.
3. 49ers QB: Jimmy Garoppolo
Stats: 69.9 completion percentage, 1,163 passing yards, 7 TD passes, 5 INTs, QB rating: 95.2
Jimmy Garoppolo and former Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will offer fans a glimpse at what could have been when San Francisco hosts Atlanta in Week 15. The 49ers are currently 5-0 and looking like everything the Falcons were just three years ago. Garoppolo has been solid thus far, with a 95.2 passer rating.
2. Saints QB: Drew Brees
Stats: 72.9 completion percentage, 408 passing yards, 2 TD passes, 2 INTs, QB rating: 94.8
Brees should be back soon, but the Saints have been just fine without him. Still, he’s one of the best in the game and an eventual Hall of Fame quarterback. Brees, with a vastly improved Saints defense, could take the Saints to another level over the second half of the season.
1. Seahawks QB: Russell Wilson
Stats: 72.5 completion percentage, 1,704 passing yards, 14 TD passes, 0 INTs, QB rating: 124.7
Russell Wilson is currently the favorite to win the MVP and with good reason. He’s been unbelievable through six games — throwing for 14 touchdowns, zero interceptions and a passer rating of 124.7. Wilson is completing over 72 percent of his passes and his Seahawks are sitting pretty at 5-1. With what we’ve seen from Atlanta’s defense so far, Wilson could do some serious damage in Week 8.
