It’s about time.
The Atlanta Falcons have not exactly been primetime darlings in recent years, a function of being neither particularly good nor particularly exciting. The team was scheduled for just one primetime game in 2021 and 2022 and zero in 2023, marking just two contests under the bright lights for Atlanta in the Arthur Smith era. They lost both of them.
Things are different now. The eyes of the NFL are on the Falcons thanks to the Kirk Cousins signing, the high-profile flirtation with hiring Bill Belichick and subsequent hiring of Raheem Morris, and the team’s decision to draft Michael Penix. The attention and the fact that the Falcons are finally expected to be a legitimate NFC contender this year have conspired to deliver the team some opportunities to play in front of a national audience, as exciting and terrifying as that possibility is.
Per WSB-TV reporter Zach Klein, Atlanta’s set to have four primetime games during the 2024 season, including three in the first five weeks. It’s a testament to how good and interesting the league believes the Falcons are now, and I sincerely hope they live up to those expectations.
The last time the Atlanta Falcons had a MNF Game was in October of 2020 at Green Bay during COVID
In 2024.. they are expected to have following in primetime:
Week 2 at Philly – MNF
Week 3 vs KC – Sunday Night
Week 5 vs Tampa – Thursday Night
December 16th – at Las Vegas – MNF— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) May 15, 2024
The first two will come as part of an excellent early test for a team with a relatively easy schedule, with the always-dangerous Eagles and defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs lining up in back-to-back weeks on Monday Night Football (in Philadelphia) and Sunday Night Football (in Atlanta). If the Falcons take even one of those after hopefully waxing the Arthur Smith and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, they’ll be in excellent position for the rest of the season.
They won’t have to wait long before they’re facing off against the Buccaneers at home on Thursday Night Football, a game that will likely have outsized importance because these two teams are best-positioned to duke it out for the NFC South title. Then they’ll wrap things up with a late season game against the likely-to-be-mediocre Raiders on the road in Week 15.
If the Falcons are quality, this will be a great introduction to the Raheem Morris and Kirk Cousins-led squad for the team, and it will likely help everyone talk less about quarterback controversies and Belichick and whatever side stories fans and reporters have been wont to focus on this offseason. If not, well, this might be the last time we see them get several primetime games for a very, very long while.
The official schedule release kicks off at 8 p.m. tonight, but be sure to check our tracker in the meantime.