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00:00And when you look at the strength of schedule, it is ripe for Atlanta to take advantage of
00:08this year.
00:09According to Sharp Analytics and our guy, perhaps Warren Sharp, entering 2024, the Falcons
00:15have the easiest strength of schedule in the National Football League, and I love what
00:20Sharp and his team do because it's based on how we set the odds week by week in the National
00:26Football League.
00:27It's the combined record from 2023 of their opponents.
00:31It's the projected win totals of the team on Atlanta's schedule this year, and it takes
00:36into account things like rest advantage and disadvantage, travel, and all of that that
00:41goes into shaping these lines week to week.
00:44Who is favored?
00:45Who is expected to win?
00:46And then how many games can you win in a single season?
00:49The Falcons have the easiest schedule in the National Football League.
00:53Frankly, if they're not a double-digit win team, if they do not win the NFC South, then
00:59you're going to have a lot of questions to answer in the first year under Kirk Cousins
01:03and under Raheem Morris.
01:05The only thing, Donnie, that I have been skeptical of for the Dirty Birds this offseason, after
01:11they signed Kirk Cousins and placing them as the divisional odds-on favorite, was what
01:16the heck Terry Fontenot, the general manager for the Atlanta Falcons, was doing in the
01:23NFL drafts, selecting Michael Pennix Jr. 8th overall.
01:26Outside of that, I have full belief the Falcons on the actual football field under Raheem
01:31Morris are going to be a darn good team this year.
01:33And again, anything less than double-digit wins and a divisional title is a disappointing
01:38season in my estimation.
01:39No, you're right about it, and they did make the cardinal sin in the NFL.
01:43The good thing about there is it's never really, or should be in the NFL, a really
01:47long rebuild.
01:48You stink one season, you get high draft picks, you probably have a lot of capital here that
01:52you can spend, and by year number three of a regime, you should be upright on your feet
01:56and expecting to win divisions.
01:57Outside of, let's just say, playing against Patrick Mahomes for 10 straight years, you're
02:01never going to be on the upswing here if you're a team that's trying to get its footing.
02:04The reason I bring that up is you really miss the point here.
02:08I understand the philosophy in theory, Ben, where they're saying, like, we're probably
02:11not going to be drafting this high again, eventually we'll need another quarterback.
02:15You can't do that in the NFL because now you're saying to yourselves, and Kirk Cousins brought
02:20you in, Kirk, I think you've got four solid years left in you.
02:23Well, you know what would have been great here?
02:25To have Drake London on one side and, let's just say, Roma Dunzey on the other to grow
02:29together with Kirk Cousins here as opposed to Michael Penix, who's never going to see
02:33the field.
02:34You'd be an even better football team over the next two to three years than you would
02:37even if Michael Penix turns out to be a serviceable quarterback four years down the road or three
02:42years down the road.
02:43So that is an issue here where they could have been a stronger football team in 2024
02:47if they made the appropriate picks in the draft, which I don't believe they did.
02:51But we can only look at what they have on the field this year up against the rest of
02:55the talent in that division.
02:56And it still holds up for the Atlanta Falcons.
02:58As I said, the most important part here is I do expect very good quarterback play out
03:02of Kirk Cousins.
03:03And again, there are no weak links on this football team where the other teams are going
03:07to talk about.
03:08There's a lot of weak links, quite frankly.