Falcons named among NFL's biggest preseason losers

The Atlanta Falcons are finished with an odd but telling preseason schedule. They whooped on an awful Indianapolis Colts defense and outlasted the backups for the Miami Dolphins . They also got soundly beaten by the only good team they faced: taking a 27-7 loss when they played the Denver Broncos , who may be the favorites in the AFC.

The Falcons' quarterback situation looks no better now than it was at the start of last month, and for a cherry on top they've lost 1.5 of their best pass rushers for the season.

It should come as no surprise then that Atlanta has been included on CBS Sports' list of the NFL's biggest losers of the 2026 preseason.

"After an awful preseason debut with the Falcons, Tua Tagovailoa was much better in Week 3 ... - The Falcons haven't had much of an opportunity to remove him from QB1 status, though. Michael Penix Jr. only recently returned to full team drills, and he didn't play in the preseason finale... Add in Jalon Walker's torn ACL and James Pearce Jr.'s eight-game suspension, and it was a rough preseason ahead of what could be a rough regular season."

If there's a silver lining, it's that the bar for the Falcons is about as low as it gets in the NFL.

On paper, the NFC South is still the weakest division in the league, and the Carolina Panthers won it last season despite a -69 scoring differential.

The New Orleans Saints are a popular pick to go from worst to first, but we're unimpressed by an aging roster outside of second-year quarterback Tyler Shough and rookie wideout Jordyn Tyson, who will begin the season on injured reserve.

The Panthers will be facing a far more-difficult schedule thanks to their division "win" and they've been hit hard by injuries this month, including season-ending knee issues for wide receiver Chris Brazzell II and edge rusher Nic Scourton. They are also missing their starting offensive tackles.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have dominated this division in recent years but they also face an aging roster and they no longer have Mike Evans around to bully their rivals twice a year.

A healthy Falcons team is still the most-talented in this group - if they can manage to get to Week 9 without falling out of the boat they should have a fighting chance to win their first division title since 2017.

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