We wrote earlier this offseason about Atlanta’s odd, ongoing excellence in even years versus odd years. There’s no rhyme or reason to why they should be, and likely no great cosmic alignment governing that excellence, but it’s worth noting that the Falcons since 1998 have been to two Super Bowls and made seven playoff appearances in even years, while they’ve made just two playoff appearances in odd years, in 2011 and 2017.
Just going back to 2008, we see the trend illustrated not just in final records, but actual performance. Per Austrian stats guy ViennaFalcon, here’s a look at the way the Falcons have just plain been better in even years.