Falcons-Broncos preview: What a road win in Denver would mean for Atlanta in Week 11

The Atlanta Falcons find themselves at a very interesting cross-section of their season entering Week 11. While they are 6-4 on the year and essentially 2.5 games up on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South race because they completed the season sweep of them earlier this season, the last thing this team needs to do is enter its Week 12 bye on a two-game losing skid. Is that avoidable?

Atlanta must quickly get over its tough road loss at the arch rival New Orleans Saints last week and get ready for what is to come. That would be a late afternoon kick at altitude vs. the Denver Broncos. Just like Atlanta, Denver lost on the road in heartbreaking fashion last week. They were one play away from handing the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss of the season, but a blocked field goal ruined that.

To help me get over the Saints loss, as well as prepare for the Broncos game, I welcomed back to the program Iain MacMillan of Sports Illustrated on the latest episode of The Blogging Dirty Podcast. We have deemed that not only is he a great gambler, but is also quite possibly, the biggest Falcons fan from Canada. We saw things a bit differently heading into this game, which made for a fantastic show!

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Here are some of the biggest talking points Iain and I had during the latest episode of the podcast.

How should Atlanta Falcons fans feel about the New Orleans Saints loss

Not going to lie, I was a bit shocked to see how even-keeled Iain was about the Saints loss during his latest appearance on the program. While we both tend to agree that nobody hardly ever goes undefeated in NFC South play, the fact the Buccaneers lost to the San Francisco 49ers made the trap game defeat at the Saints a bit more palatable. Iain believes the numbers did reflect well for Atlanta.

In laymen's terms, what we saw last Sunday was one of those strange outlier games where the losing team largely outperformed the winner in most indicative metrics. Atlanta dominated time of possession, but failed to make a few key plays on offense, especially when it came to Younghoe Koo kicking field goals. He missed a career-high three attempts on Sunday, which contributed to the loss.

I said that Atlanta probably did not deserve to win the Week 4 game vs. the Saints back in Atlanta, but Koo was the one who delivered the Dirty Birds to the promised land. The Falcons did not score an offensive touchdown in that one. In truth, Atlanta and New Orleans played well enough in the season series to split it. The only issue is the better team lost both games. Thankfully, Tampa Bay lost again!

The biggest takeaway is not the lack of pass rush (again), but rather if we still have confidence in Koo.

Could Atlanta Falcons still get the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff picture?

This was the topic of intrigue on Blow the Whistle or Blow the Whistle? While Iain and I said Atlanta "could" get the No. 2 seed, we ultimately blew the whistle in the negative, like a referee while calling yet another false start penalty on the offensive line. We are of the belief that Atlanta is going to end up with the No. 3 or No. 4 seed and be right where the Falcons need to be in their competitive arc.

The quest for the No. 2 seed is going to require Philadelphia cooling off and Atlanta catching fire. While the Dirty Birds own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Birds, Philadelphia only has two losses on the season. In short, Atlanta would need to get to 12-5 on the season to realistically be in a position to get the No. 2 seed in the NFC. At 11-6, that is more likely. Is Philadelphia losing four more?

Not only do the Falcons have to watch what Philadelphia does the rest of the way, but the head-to-head games with Minnesota and Washington become even more important. Iain and I agree that splitting the pair is critical when it comes to playoff positioning. The last thing this team needs is to stumble to the No. 4 seed and draw the best non-division winner in the first round. It would be rough.

Getting the No. 3 seed would afford Atlanta to get a home playoff victory and be able to win another.

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson has taken the quantum leap

Again, Iain is more of a numbers guy than me. Regardless, I think we are both seeing the same thing when it comes to Falcons running back Bijan Robinson taking the quantum leap into NFL stardom. The big thing for us is we see a running back playing with more and more confidence in Zac Robinson's system with each passing week. He is becoming increasingly versatile in the backfield.

This is so important because it affords Robinson even more touches in this Falcons offense. If he can run between the tackles as effectively as he can receive out of the backfield, he can be a problem for other defenses to contain. Even in defeat, he was the best offensive player on the Falcons vs. the Saints. His ability to pass protect opens up more things for the offense to do while he is out there.

Probably the biggest takeaway from Robinson's improved play is he has become so much harder to tackle. Iain said you can no longer try to arm tackle him; you have to use your whole body to bring Robinson to the turf. I added that he tends to fall forward when he gets tackled, turning three yard gains into five, five into seven and eight into 11. He keeps the offense moving and winning games.

Robinson is just now entering his prime in the NFL, so we need to be exited about it going forward.

Why getting a win over Denver Broncos is so critical for Atlanta Falcons

Not to say that I do not have much feel for the Denver game, but it does come at a weird point of Atlanta's schedule. The team is due for a bye and is fresh off a terrible road defeat at the arch rival Saints. Atlanta will be going up against former Saints head coach Sean Payton's team, as well as a quarterback who used to drive Atlantans crazy while he was at Auburn and later Oregon in Bo Nix.

Truth be told, Denver is not a bad team. The Broncos are improving under their second-year head coach. While I think either the Broncos or the Los Angeles Chargers will make the AFC playoffs and not both, this is not some run of the mill forgettable Denver team from yesteryear. It will be outside, in altitude and possibly in not great weather. The Falcons need to be ready to be road warriors yet again.

One thing Iain did point out what that Atlanta has been just as good on the road as the Falcons have been at home this year. Three of the team's wins came on the road outdoors in Philadelphia, Carolina and Tampa Bay. Denver does have a distinct home-field advantage, but Atlanta has the more complete roster. Iain said that Atlanta's offensive weaponry far exceeds what Denver has to offer.

It should be a close game, but Atlanta cannot afford to be riding a two-game skid into its bye week.