The Athletic Makes Surprising Super Bowl Claim for Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are entering a new generation in 2026. Ian Cunningham has taken over a new-look front office, while Kevin Stefanski leads a new coaching staff. With looming uncertainty all over the roster, any hope of bringing home the franchise’s first-ever championship feels unlikely. However, one gambling guru for The Athletic, Douglas Kezirian, sees the Falcons as a team with an outside shot of taking home a title.

Kezirian identified the longshot franchises with this piece, highlighting the Los Angeles Chargers (+1500), Chicago Bears (+2500), Indianapolis Colts (+400), and New York Giants (+6600) ahead of Atlanta.

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At +6600, the Falcons come in as the No. 22 team in the NFL in terms of odds to take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy. While the comments are short of making any predictions, take a look at what Kezirian had to say about the Falcons’ chances at being the last team standing next season.

“Perhaps no team made a bigger upgrade at head coach than Atlanta, as Raheem Morris routinely botched basic clock management concepts. Two-time Coach of the Year and offensive guru Kevin Stefanski escapes Cleveland’s dysfunction and now gets Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts,” wrote Kezirian.

“The quarterback position is a bit of a wild card. Michael Penix Jr. is coming off a torn left ACL in Week 11 and may not be ready for the season opener, while Kirk Cousins is expected to become a free agent. But with a mediocre division and huge odds, Atlanta feels like it is worth a flier.”

With Penix set to return from yet another season-ending injury, the uncertainty at the quarterback position creates questions about postseason expectations for the Falcons, much less any championship hopes. The third-year quarterback had some good moments in his first year as the primary starter, but he still has a way to go before he can be a championship-winning quarterback.

There is also doubt that he will be ready to play by the time training camp comes around in July, limiting his ability to acclimate to the new coaching staff.

Elsewhere, the Falcons will have some depth concerns at wide receiver, quarterback, tight end, defensive line, linebacker, and in the secondary. With so many concerns and limited capital to address them, the Falcons will need to be judicious with how they approach this offseason.

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The upgrade at head coach figures to serve them well in the future, but it may not fully come to fruition until the roster receives some much-needed attention.

With so many questions, Atlanta would be wise to find answers this season rather than pushing their chips to the center of the table.