The Falcons lost to the Buccaneers today, which dropped them to a 3-8 record that is not exactly the envy of the rest of the NFL. That loss also officially destroyed their NFC South title hopes, and virtually does the same for their chances of making the playoffs.
For most Falcons fans, that hope was already gone. The Falcons needed to win every game and get a ton of help to win the South or even make the postseason. The chances of that were vanishingly slim before the loss, as the Falcons had just about a 1% chance of making it, but the team playing inspired football for a couple of weeks left that door ajar just enough to for the intoxicating aroma of the postseason to waft in.