Over the past few seasons the Atlanta Falcons have firmly emerged as one of the NFL's elite teams. Last season, they managed to sneak by the Seattle Seahawks and into the NFC Championship game, where quarterback Matt Ryan and the offense couldn't overcome Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers.

This season, however, they're clear favorites to take the NFC South ahead of the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers, despite the Saints and Bucs being labeled as their chief competition.

The Falcons have one of the tougher schedules in the league, and here's a closer look at the difficult season they have ahead of them below:

Week    Date, Opponent, Time (ET), TV

1              Sept. 8  @ New Orleans 1 p.m., FOX

2              Sept. 15 vs. St. Louis 1 p.m., FOX

3              Sept. 22 @ Miami 4:05 p.m., FOX

4              Sept. 29 vs. New England 8:30 p.m., NBC

5              Oct. 7    vs. New York Jets 8:30 p.m., ESPN

6              BYE       

7              Oct. 20  vs. Tampa Bay   1 p.m., FOX

8              Oct. 27  @ Arizona           4:25 p.m., FOX

9              Nov. 3   @ Carolina 1 p.m. FOX 10

10           Nov. 10  vs. Seattle 1 p.m., FOX

11           Nov. 17 @ Tampa Bay 1 p.m., FOX

12           Nov. 21 vs. New Orleans  8:25 p.m., NFL

13           Dec. 1    @ Buffalo 4:05 p.m., FOX

14           Dec. 8    @ Green Bay 8:30 p.m., NBC

15           Dec. 15 vs. Washington 1 p.m., FOX

16           Dec. 23 @ San Francisco 8:30 p.m., ESPN

17           Dec. 29 vs. Carolina 1 p.m., FOX