Falcons face plenty of tough home games

By Bud L. Ellis

Home is where the heart is, and for the Atlanta Falcons in 2010, it likely will be where the difference between the playoffs and an early spring reside.

The Falcons, who went 9-7 a year ago and barely missed a second-consecutive trip to the NFC playoffs, face a robust home slate this season. The National Football League has released home and road opponents for the 2010 season. Dates will be announced later.

Of Atlanta’s eight home games in 2010, seven come against teams that finished at .500 or above last season. Of course, NFC South division rival and Super Bowl champion New Orleans is on the home schedule. Along with the Saints, playoff qualifiers from last season coming to the Georgia dome include Green Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Arizona. Of the remaining home games, San Francisco and Carolina each finished 8-8 last season. The other home game cpomes against Tampa Bay.

Atlanta’s road schedule is smoother. Games at New Orleans and at Philadelphia are the only ones against playoff teams, and four of the road contests come against teams that lost 11 games or more in 2009: Cleveland, Seattle, Tampa Bay and St. Louis. The rest of the road schedule features games at Pittsburgh and at Carolina.

Based on opponents’ win percentage from last season, the Falcons have the 20th-toughest schedule in the league.

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Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 6:54 pm by Bud · No Comments

Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Georgia Dome, Green Bay Packers, National Football League, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers