The Falcons may have had a turning point in their season, on national television to open the Week 10 slate of games, against the Carolina Panthers. I mean that in the worst possible way. A defeat against a 2-7 Panthers team coming into the game is the type of loss that re-calibrates any playoff expectations, especially from a team that’s now on the back foot of any such talk.
The Falcons hope to use the extra three days of rest afforded by the Thursday night game, as well as homefield advantage (assuming the Benz isn’t half empty), to get back on track against a Chicago Bears team that has suddenly figured it out on offense in recent weeks, putting up at least 29 points in each of their previous four games.