NFL Week 6: Atlanta Falcons facing ugly trends on top of recent struggles

Dan Quinn might be in trouble and the Atlanta Falcons are struggling in a significant way. After a Week 2 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in prime time, the Falcons looked to have the ship righted but, on the heels of three straight defeats, Atlanta is just 1-4 and facing a virtual must-win in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals. While the match-up is favorable enough on paper to install the Falcons as narrow road favorites over Kyler Murray and company, Atlanta is also battling some troubling trends as they play their second consecutive road game. 

The Falcons are a hideous 2-10 against the spread in their last 12 road games, including an 0-3 mark this season. Trends can often be misleading but, for Matt Ryan and the Falcons, traveling away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium has been an adventure in the recent past and, even when the team was picking up road victories in 2018, two of the wins came at the end of the season when playing out the string in meaningless fashion. 

To make the picture even muddier, Atlanta is just 1-9 against the spread in their last 10 games played in October. Quinn and his staff simply can't afford that trend to continue, though, as the Falcons are only a narrow favorite in Week 6 and expected to operate as underdogs in Week 7 (against the Rams) and Week 8 (against the Seahawks). 

In a small nod of positivity, the Cardinals are 0-2-1 overall and 1-2 against the spread at home this season, but the Falcons are essentially playing for their seasonal lives on Sunday. Atlanta is now a distant 300-1 to win the Super Bowl and, even in a potentially advantageous match-up on Sunday, they'll take the field with unfavorable trends hanging over the action.