The Atlanta Falcons are back in prime time.

One year after playing just Sunday afternoon games, the Falcons will once again host a Monday night game against the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints on Dec. 27. Atlanta will also welcome the Baltimore Ravens for a Thursday night NFL network contest on Nov. 11.

Those are some of the highlights of what may turn out to be a very rigorous early schedule for the Falcons.

The Dirty Birds start the 2010 campaign against the possibly Ben Roethlisberger-less Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sept. 12 before facing off against defending NFC West Division champs, the Arizona Cardinals one week later in the home opener.

Atlanta had won four straight over Arizona before the Cardinals ousted the Falcons in the 2008 playoffs.

Atlanta will then head to New Orleans to take on the Saints in Week 3. The schedule gets a tad easier from there with matchups against the San Francisco 49ers and at the Cleveland Browns before Atlanta faces off against a pair of 2009 playoff teams.

The Falcons take on Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field on October 17 before facing the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7 at the Dome. From there, it’s a Week 8 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before that Thursday night matchup with the Ravens before they finally have their bye.

Atlanta will have 10 days off before facing the St. Louis Rams at the Edward James Dome before coming home to face the Green Bay Packers in Week 12.

From there, Atlanta finishes up the season with a contest in Tampa before finally facing off against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte in Week 14.

The Falcons jet to the Pacific Northwest for a Week 15 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks before finishing the season with that Monday night matchup against New Orleans and a Week 17 matchup against Carolina at the Dome.

It will be the first time that the Dirty Birds finish off the season against a pair of NFC South Division opponents since 2005.

Atlanta faces just four teams with losing records last season: St. Louis (1-15), Tampa Bay (3-13), Cleveland (5-11) and Seattle (5-11). Two other teams (Carolina and San Francisco) finished at the break-even mark.

Unfortunately, it looks like the first few weeks could be trying for the Falcons, who can easily be 0-3 after early losses to Pittsburgh, Arizona and New Orleans. However, Pittsburgh is in turmoil and the Arizona game is very winnable.

If Atlanta can win two of those three games and split the four-game middle of the season set against Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay and Baltimore, the playoffs are possible. If not, it could be a long year at the Dome.

-- PHIL FOLEY
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