Mark WiedmerAtlanta's third home loss of this NFL season officially in the books after a 22-19 defeat against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Charles Davis - the former Tennessee Volunteer now doing color commentary for Fox - said of the Falcons' football future: "For Atlanta, it's hard to see their path to the playoffs after today."
But is it impossible?
Not exactly. Now 4-6, if they could march into the Big Easy this week on Thanksgiving night and pull off the not-so-easy task of upsetting the New Orleans Saints inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, a win such as that would do much to negate their three losses they've taken inside their own Mercedes-Benz Stadium, including the last-second defeat against Dallas.
A win at Green Bay in December would also help, as would closing out the regular season with a victory at Carolina, which has nothing but victories at home this season.
In other words, there's still a path for the Falcons to reach the postseason, though finding it might take a search party comprising a GPS, a bloodhound and the three wise men.
But at least the Falcons still have Matt Ryan to guide them. The Tennessee Titans saw their starting quarterback, Marcus Mariota, leave the field late in the second quarter Sunday at Indianapolis, never to return, his right elbow injured for the second time this season in the eventual 38-10 loss.
If Mariota isn't lost for long, the Titans' postseason chances would still seem somewhat superior to those of the Falcons, if for no other reason than they play four of their final five games at Nissan Stadium. Then again, the last of those games is a rematch with the Colts, who have now won 10 straight against the Titans when Andrew Luck's at quarterback.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota scrambles away from the Indianapolis Colts' Jabaal Sheard during the first half of Sunday's game in Indianapolis.How good was Luck on Sunday against the league's top scoring defense? Try 23-of-29 passing for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Luck has thrown at least one touchdown pass in a league-high 33 consecutive games and three or more in seven straight. If he keeps that up and can finally remain healthy, Peyton Manning might one day no longer be the only quarterback to have a bronze statue of himself outside Indy's Lucas Oil Stadium.
At least one NFL quarterback saw his season, if not his career, come to an end Sunday with a gruesome leg injury.
Exactly 33 years to the day former Washington Redskins quarterback great Joe Theismann sustained a compound leg fracture in a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants, current 'Skins QB Alex Smith broke the same two bones (fibula and tibia) in the same right leg as Theismann, who threw two touchdown passes to help Washington win Super Bowl XVII and cap the 1982 season. Theismann, who was in attendance on Sunday at FedExField, was 35 at the time of his injury and never played again. Smith turned 34 in May.
Also, much as Lawrence Taylor - widely regarded as the best defensive player of his day - made the tackle that injured Theismann, Houston's J.J. Watt, one of the best defensive talents in today's NFL, was in on the tackle that knocked out Smith.
Yet if Smith's injury was the NFL's toughest, saddest moment on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers' 20-16 comeback win at Jacksonville was a reminder that New England's Tom Brady and the Saints' Drew Brees aren't the only quarterbacks getting better as they get older. Pittsburgh's 36-year-old Ben Rothlisberger, he of the two Super Bowl MVP honors, overcame three interceptions to score the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard rush with five seconds to go.
"Horrible games that you find a way to win?" said Big Ben, sounding like a certain credit card commercial. "Pretty special."
When this NFL season began close to three months ago, it was supposed to become a special year for both the Titans and the Falcons. They'd both reached the playoffs last season, and both had won a road game once they got there. Though Tennessee parted company with coach Mike Mularkey in favor of Mike Vrabel, the pieces all seemed to fit for both franchises.
Now the Titans stand 5-5, the Falcons 4-6 and neither would appear anything close to a favorite to reach the postseason. Beyond that, Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees was taken to the hospital during the game against the Colts, and his status moving forward could be uncertain.
"When you lose, it makes you want to look yourself in the mirror harder," Titans linebacker Wesley Woodyard said. "We have to be honest with ourselves."
In all honesty, if Sunday be the measuring stick, neither the Falcons nor the Titans should be playing football come January.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott gets upended by Atlanta Falcons strong safety Damontae Kazee during the first half of Sunday's game in Atlanta.