Atlanta Falcons Now in Position to Remain Atop NFC South

The battle to win the NFC South division has developed into a war of attrition.

The Atlanta Falcons are 4-6 overall after a 19-17 victory Sunday over the Carolina Panthers and have worked their way into being the best in the NFL's worst division. 

Despite the poor overall record, the Falcons are moving in the right direction and possess the right combination of quarterback play, skill, offensive-line momentum and remaining schedule to eventually clinch an automatic playoff berth by winning the division. 

The team's official Twitter feed was quick to announce the Falcons' good fortune after Sunday's game: 

After losing five straight games, the Falcons have now won two in a row and placed themselves in position to make a playoff run.

It was a long and ugly stretch before the Falcons saw a light at the end of the tunnel, as SI.com's Peter King noted: 

Falcons head coach Mike Smith is taking the team's recent good fortune in stride, though. 

"No thoughts at all [on being in first place]," Smith said after the game, via Atlanta Falcons.com. "Our focus is going to be very narrow minded. We’re going to be looking through a microscope not a telescope and our focus is going to be on getting prepared for the Cleveland Browns and being 1-0 next week."

The Falcons' up-and-down season finally came full circle the last two weeks. 

Atlanta opened the season with an impressive 37-34 overtime victory over the New Orleans Saints. A hiccup against the Cincinnati Bengals the following week was sandwiched between another victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3. 

Smith's squad was 2-1 with the top-rated offense in the NFL. Everything was clicking on that side of the football. 

However, multiple injuries to the offensive line started to slow the Falcons' high-flying offense. Center Joe Hawley and right tackle Lamar Holmes were lost for the season. Three weeks later, backup center Peter Konz was also placed on injured reserve. 

That level of turnover in the trenches would slow any offense. When a team's defense is already suspect, it creates a nearly impossible situation for any team to achieve success.  

USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta's offensive situation improved, though, as the season has progressed. 

As always, it started with the big eaters up front. The Falcons have now had the same offensive-line combination together for the past four weeks, and the unit is starting to jell.

Ryan Schraeder provides more length and athleticism at right tackle than veteran Gabe Carimi did. James Stone, an undrafted rookie out of the University of Tennessee, has proven to be competent as the team's third starter at center. And rookie left tackle Jake Matthews has slowly improved each week while protecting his quarterback's blind side. 

If these offensive linemen continue to play well together, then Atlanta's offense will once again become very dangerous. 

Matt Ryan has a a quarterback rating well over 90 during the last three games. The team is 2-1 overall during that period and should have won the third game if not for a second-half implosion in London against the Detroit Lions. 

Opponent	Completion %	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	QB rating
Lions	74.0	228	2	1	108.3
Bucs	64.5	219	1	0	96.0
Panthers	68.9	268	1	0	91.7

If not for a horrific interception against the Lions, Ryan would have been nearly perfect over the last three games. 

Ryan is fully capable of keeping the Falcons in contests. More than that, Ryan can win games for his team. With the Falcons trailing Carolina 17-16, Ryan led his team 54 yards in four minutes and eight seconds to set up the game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter. 

The 29-year-old quarterback is one of the league's best at bringing his team from behind to claim a victory, as Football Outsiders' Scott Kacsmar tweeted: 

When a quarterback of Ryan's caliber is protected and surrounded by talent like Julio Jones and Roddy White at wide receiver, his team has a chance to win every week.

Plus, the Falcons are actually improving on defense to complement the rising offense. 

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, the Falcons ranked 31st overall in total defense after surrendering 404.8 yards per game. During the team's current two-game winning streak, that number slightly improved after the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed 382 yards per game. 

These past two contests were extremely important due to the Falcons' success within the division. Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith found the formula to Atlanta's season so far: 

An undefeated divisional record grants the Falcons an edge in all tiebreakers, as the rest of the NFC South continues to struggle. 

The upcoming schedule also give the Falcons an edge to win their division. Four of the team's final six games are at the Georgia Dome, and Atlanta closes out its season against the Saints and the Panthers. A favorable home schedule with an opportunity to go 6-0 in the division should be able to push the Falcons over the top in the NFC South. 

Ryan discussed the team's opportunity after the game: 

"

It’s been a different year, for sure, but you play to be relevant in November and December, and as quirky as this year has been, we’re relevant. And we’ve got to keep going. I think we’re starting to play better as a football team, even in Detroit over in London, the last three weeks that we’ve gone out there we’ve played pretty effective football, and we need to do that. We need to continue to find ways to win, and I think the young team that we have, hopefully it’s starting to come together.

"

Since the Saints were unable to capitalize during their three-game home stretch after claiming the division lead, the Falcons appear to have flown right by them and are now the favorites to capture the NFC South crown.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFC South for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.