The Atlanta Falcons at this time sit in the No. 10 slot in the NFC, needing to vault to the major 7 to make the NFL playoffs.

Quarterback Matt Ryan – getting been there and finished that – will get it. And, it would seem, he needs you, Falcons enthusiasts, to get it, much too.

“Extending our possibility to be relevant” is what Atlanta has accomplished by pushing its way to a 6-7 document, Ryan said as the crew prepares to play at 7-6 San Francisco on Sunday. “I’m fired up about that. It’s enjoyment to be this time of the calendar year, to be in games that issue and online games that have outcomes, and I’m fired up for that prospect.”

In other words: “Are we obtaining enjoyment nevertheless?”

We are, since to the credit of Atlanta’s new management, which vowed that this would be a thing additional than just a “rebuilding yr,” the Falcons have battled by way of adversity to keep on being in the NFC playoff picture. They did so last week with a 29-21 street acquire more than the Carolina Panthers. Now they go on the street once more for a late-afternoon assembly with a club perched in front of them in the pecking get.

A loss will shift them closer to being officially eliminated from playoff contention, and will probably go GM Terry Fontenot and coach Arthur Smith to concede that the Falcons are not great sufficient – a cause to a coming rebuild, or at least, a “make.”

Ah, but a win? Good results in excess of the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15 would be a step toward legitimizing what Ryan thinks these Falcons could possibly be.

“It’s extremely substantial,” Ryan reported. “For us as a workforce, they’re all going to be this way moving ahead if we deal with our company. We understand the place we’re in, but we also know, you just cannot manage the upcoming three game titles. It is truly just about using treatment of small business this 7 days.”

And isn’t that aspect of the enjoyment?