Atlanta Falcons running back Tevin Coleman, center, breaks free from the pack for a 39-yard touchdown catch during the first half of Sunday's 38-14 win against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md.When the Atlanta Falcons began this 2018 NFL season, they had the same dream any other franchise would if its home stadium was about to host the Super Bowl. They wanted to get there, to be the true host team for Super Bowl LIII inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
But then the Birds went out and lost four of their first five games, and that dream was believed to have pretty much blown up up in their hugely embarrassed faces.
Or at least the playoffs appeared to be a lost option until Sunday, when Atlanta went on the road to crush the Washington Redskins 38-14, a victory that moved the Falcons' record to 4-4, which is the exact record they had after eight games last season.
In case you've forgotten, that team went on to not only make the playoffs but defeat the Rams in Los Angeles before losing a close one at Philadelphia, which went on to win the Super Bowl.
That's not to say these Falcons are headed back to the postseason simply because they've now won three straight. Their remaining schedule is something of a killer, with five of the final eight on the road and three of those at Green Bay (Dec. 9), Carolina (Dec. 23) and New Orleans (Thanksgiving night), which just knocked the Rams from the unbeaten ranks on Sunday.
But at least they're in the hunt now, which was something most folks probably thought was impossible after they were shredded 41-17 at Pittsburgh on Oct. 7.
"Listen, I don't even know our record," wide receiver Julio Jones after Sunday's game, when he made his first touchdown catch of the season. (Yes, you read that right.)
"It's just one game at a time, one play at a time, one practice at a time, one day at a time. I never look ahead. I never look behind me."
Behind the Falcons is an injury report that should have ended any talk of postseason play weeks ago. Six starters are already on injured reserve, everyone from safeties Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal to linebacker Deion Jones to offensive linemen Brandon Fusco and Andy Levitre to running back Devonta Freeman. Six more starters have missed at least one game, including veteran kicker Matt Bryant, who has missed the past two after making a 57-yard field goal at the end of a 34-29 win against Tampa Bay on Oct. 14.
Deion Jones might be back by Thanksgiving. Freeman also might return before the end of the season. But to have more than half your starters out for at least one game halfway through the season is almost unfathomable. Even in the NFL.
Yet this sometimes fragile team hasn't made excuses. It hasn't panicked regarding trades. It hasn't pointed fingers internally. Instead, in keeping with its "Brotherhood" theme begun in recent seasons by coach Dan Quinn, the Falcons have simply gone back to work each week, determined to improve enough from one Sunday to the next to win the next one.
Beyond that, a closer look at the schedule reveals the Falcons could easily be favored in six of their final eight contests. Depending on what happened late Sunday night during Green Bay's game at New England, only two of those remaining eight games will come against teams that currently own winning records - Carolina and New Orleans. Win the rest and a 10-6 regular-season mark would appear to have a good shot at the playoffs, given that only six NFC teams had winning records early Sunday evening (Green Bay was 3-3-1) and three of those were but one game clear, at 5-3, of Atlanta.
There's also the fact that the Falcons' offense - with the exception of the loss at Pittsburgh - has been lethal all season under second-year coordinator Steve Sarkisian, especially quarterback Matt Ryan, who looks worthy of every penny of the $150 million contract he signed in the offseason. (If you believe anyone can be worth $150 million to play a kid's game.)
Half the season now done, he has thrown 15 touchdowns, including four against the Redskins, and just two interceptions. He has completed 71 percent of his throws and has a quarterback rating of 114.2.
More important, the offense has turned it over but five times all fall, tops in the NFC, while scoring 31 or more points in half its contests. With the defense turning in arguably its best game of the season Sunday, almost every metric is pointed in the right direction.
It's still a tough task. Even if Atlanta can return to the playoffs, there's certainly no guarantee it can reach a second Super Bowl in three years.
But the simple fact that the Falcons are back in the hunt speaks volumes for the entire organization.
"There's not a moment that we're ready to relax and think we're OK where we're at," Quinn told the team's website after the win at Washington. "We've got plenty of work to do, and you can count on this team and this group of guys doing that."
If the past three games are the result of that, the rest of the season just might prove successful enough to make the Falcons more than spectators inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium come the Super Bowl. And if not, they certainly didn't fall short without at least putting up an admirable fight.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.