Atlanta Falcons: What You Need to Know Headed into Week 13

The 2013 Atlanta Falcons have five games remaining on their schedule in a season that most Atlanta fans would like to forget. 

Fresh off of being swept by the New Orleans Saints for the third time in the last five seasons, the Falcons must seek to snap a five-game losing streak north of the border in Toronto in a matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

Join us as we begin our Week 13 coverage with our weekly glance at the NFC South standings, the Falcons injury report and the biggest question facing Atlanta this week.

NFC South Standings

Team	Record	vs. NFC South	vs. NFC	Week 13 Opponent
New Orleans Saints	9-2	3-0	7-0	at Seahawks
Carolina Panthers	8-3	2-0	6-2	vs. Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3-8	1-3	2-6	at Panthers
Atlanta Falcons	2-9	1-4	2-6	at Bills

The Falcons became the first team in the league to be officially eliminated from the playoff picture with San Francisco's win over Washington on Monday night.  Instead of competing for a playoff spot, Atlanta now finds itself in the thick of the competition for the top pick in the 2014 NFL draft.

Elsewhere in the division, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have suddenly won three straight to push Atlanta into last place after their upset win in Detroit on Sunday.  Could rookie Tampa quarterback Mike Glennon save head coach Greg Schiano's job?

The Carolina Panthers won a come-from-behind game in Miami that was the kind of game they would have lost in the past (and the kind of game that the Falcons have lost this year), and they must be sure not to overlook this week's game with Tampa on the heels of their Week 14 prime-time showdown with the Saints in New Orleans.

New Orleans begins its season-ending gauntlet this week with the biggest game of its season to date at Seattle on Monday Night Football.  If the Saints want the NFC playoffs to go through the Superdome, this week's game is probably a must-win.

Falcons Injury Report  

Player	Injury	Expected Return Date
Mike Johnson	Leg	Out for Season
Kroy Biermann	Achilles	Out for Season
Bradie Ewing	Shoulder	Out for Season
Sam Baker	Knee	Out for Season
Julio Jones	Foot	Out for Season
Malliciah Goodman	Calf	Missed Week 12 vs. Saints
Tony Gonzalez	Toe	Limited in Practice last week, but played vs. Saints

Tony Gonzalez has been limited during practice the last couple of weeks with a toe injury, but he hasn't missed any game time.  Don't be surprised if that trend repeats itself this week.  We'll find out more about Malliciah Goodman's status this week as we update this list when more information comes out.

The important thing to note here is that the Falcons may be going a little deeper into their depth chart from here on out, regardless of who's healthy, in order to evaluate some of the younger players on the team's roster.

Here's what Falcons head coach Mike Smith had to say about the evaluation process via Daniel Cox of AtlantaFalcons.com:

"

Players and coaches are always being evaluated every time we go out on the field. Our No. 1 goal as we finish the season is to finish strong, win every football game starting with this one in Toronto this week. We will continue to evaluate all of our players. There are some young guys that have done nice jobs and haven’t had an opportunity to participate in games or have a lot of participation. If they continue to work like they have, they’re going to get an opportunity on game day.

"

Biggest Question Facing the Falcons this Week 

Is this the week that Atlanta finally gets a victory away from the Georgia Dome? The Falcons are 0-5 on the road this year, where they've lost by an average margin of 12.2 points. 

With Jacksonville's win in Houston on Sunday, the Falcons join the Minnesota Vikings as the only two teams in the league without road wins this late in the season (to their credit, the Vikings did play to a tie with the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 12).

Mike Smith has made it clear that his team is focused on winning its last five games.

If the Falcons want to put together any kind of streak that they can build confidence off of going into the offseason, they'll need to show themselves that they're capable of going on the road and taking care of business.

At first glance, this week's game against Buffalo (4-7) may appear to be the most winnable game left on Atlanta's remaining schedule (at Buffalo, at Green Bay, vs. Washington, at San Francisco and vs. Carolina) since the Bills start a rookie quarterback.

However, the Falcons have already lost to two rookie quarterbacks this season, and three of Buffalo's four wins have come against teams that beat the Falcons (Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Panthers).  Atlanta is also 0-3 against AFC East opponents this year.

Nevertheless, if the Falcons are going to win a road game this season, Sunday's game may be their best shot since it's tough seeing this Falcons team winning a game at Green Bay or San Francisco.

All stats are via ESPN.com, all historical references are via Pro-Football-Reference.com.