Last season there were teams that played pretty bad football at times and ended with awful records that are now looking to turn things around and improve. There are a few teams that come to mind and I believe that the Atlanta Falcons, who finished 4-12 last year, will be a team to watch next season.
The Falcons and the Carolina Panthers are at +320 to win the NFC South at America’s Bookie, just behind the New Orleans Saints (-105) and over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+650) and I really like their odds to contend for the division title.
This is a tough division as all four of these teams have improved but the Falcons can get back to the level that they displayed in 2012 because Julio Jones will be back at 100 percent, giving them a ton of targets, and this team is angry after a tough season last year, which featured multiple close losses.
It can’t be denied that Matt Ryan is an elite quarterback but the fact that his entire supporting cast and receiving corps went down due to injury last season was too much to overcome for him. The lack of targets for him to throw at is a huge part of why the Falcons finished 4-12 but now this team made a lot of moves to help him, like drafting rookie Jake Matthews, who is expected to start at right tackle. Matthews’ presence will instantly help Atlanta’s offensive line and give Matt Ryan more time to make throws in the pocket.
America’s Bookie has set the total of regular season wins for the Falcons at 8½ and I think that there’s great value on taking Over 8½ wins with them because of their dynamic playmakers and rebuilt offensive line.
