FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Falcons are back atop the NFC South standings with two games left in the regular season.
Atlanta took care of business at home beating the New York Giants 34-7 in Week 16, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell Sunday night to the Dallas Cowboys 26-24 on the road.
Both the Falcons and Buccaneers currently have a record of 8-7, but Atlanta holds the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay after sweeping the season series. Atlanta held control of the division for 10 straight weeks before a four-game losing streak allowed the Bucs to take the No. 1 position in the division.
Still, nothing is guaranteed until the Falcons officially clinch a playoff spot. The Falcons face a difficult Washington Commanders (10-5) team on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 17. The Commanders are coming off a thrilling, last-second 36-33 win against their division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles (12-3).
In the regular season finale, the Falcons will face the Carolina Panthers (4-11) at home. Meanwhile, the Bucs also have the Panthers left on the schedule in Week 17 before concluding the regular season against the New Orleans Saints (5-9). The Saints take on the Green Bay Packers on "Monday Night Football" to close out Week 16.
Winning the division or "outrunning the South" has always been the most straightforward way for the Falcons to reach the postseason. If the Falcons clinch the division title, which they could do this weekend with a victory and Buccaneers loss, they won't have to fight for a highly competitive wild card spot.
The Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention prior to the Sunday night matchup, but that didn't stop them from playing spoiler and snapping the Bucs' four-game win streak.
Atlanta now controls its playoff fate. As long as the Falcons win the rest of the way, they will reach the postseason for the first time since the 2017 season. No more scoreboard watching, all they have to do is focus on themselves.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said after the Week 16 win that the coaching staff wouldn't be watching the Sunday night game together, but instead, they'll get ahead on the Commanders matchup.
"We're really worried about ourselves. We're really focused on what we have to do as opposed to everybody else," Morris said. "We'll let [the Buccaneers] go out and sweat that out. We'll go out and get ready to play the next game."
