The Atlanta Falcons officially have their road map for the 2025 NFL season, releasing their 17-game schedule on Wednesday evening. Head coach Raheem Morris, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and a retooled Falcons defense will look to finally end the team’s seven-year playoff drought.

Last season, Atlanta squandered a promising 6-3 start to finish with an 8-9 record. This year, the team is under immense pressure to win, especially after trading a future first-round pick for James Pearce Jr.

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Will the Falcons finally get over the hump in 2025? Check out our five initial takeaways from Atlanta’s 2025 regular season schedule below.

5 Prime-time games

For the second year in a row, the Falcons will play five prime-time matchups, starting with a “Sunday Night Football” showdown against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2. It only gets harder from there. Atlanta will host the Buffalo Bills for a Week 6 matchup on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” before hitting the road for another Sunday night game against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7. Atlanta has a Thursday night matchup against the Buccaneers in Week 15, and a Monday night game against the Rams in Week 17.

Falcons to face 3 of 6 first-round QBs from 2024 draft

Last year, the Falcons were one of six teams to select a quarterback in the first-round of the 2024 NFL draft. In 2025, the team will get to see three of them up close. In Week 2, Atlanta will face off against former 10th overall pick J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings in his second NFL start. The Falcons will see former No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels in a Week 4 game against the Commanders, and former No. 3 pick Drake Maye during a Week 9 matchup against the Patriots. Michael Penix Jr. didn’t get to play much last season, so it’ll be interesting to see how he stacks up.

Early Bye Week

The Falcons’ early schedule won’t be easy, but they have an early bye week to make up for it. Atlanta’s bye comes in Week 5, giving the team extra time to prepare for its Monday night showdown versus the Bills in Week 6. The Falcons had a late-season bye week last season, which didn’t seem to help as they played their worst football down the stretch. Perhaps an early bye will better serve the team in 2025.

Falcons drop epic schedule release video

From the jokes to the execution, Atlanta’s Mario Kart-themed schedule release video was a huge hit. The video was packed with references, including Matt Ryan telling the players to “get [expletive] set,” and some harmless trolling of Bill Belichick and his girlfriend. It was an A+ effort from the team’s social media team and they deserve a ton of credit for such a creative and funny schedule reveal.

Bold prediction: Falcons will win NFC South

The Falcons’ schedule is no picnic, but there are several winnable games. Without the looming quarterback controversy, I think the offense will carry the team while the defense finds its footing under Jeff Ulbrich. If Atlanta can get off to a decent start heading into the bye week, I like the team to finish 11-6 and win the NFC South for the first time since 2016. Check out our full Falcons game-by-game predictions for the 2025 season.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons 2025 NFL schedule: 5 takeaways from regular season slate