Tori McElhaney answers your questions.

Tori McElhaney

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. The Atlanta Falcons are 3-5 at the midway point of the 2025 season. It's not at all where the team wants to be, nor where it needs to be to see a postseason berth realized. The Falcons are at a turning point. They leave for Germany to face the Indianapolis Colts later this week before returning home to host the Panthers and then make a trip to New Orleans.

It is do or die, and the odds as we will discuss right at the top of this mailbag are not in the Falcons' favor as Week 10 begins.

Let's get into it.

Del W. from York, Nebraska

Can the Atlanta Falcons beat math? In my calculation they had a 18.2 chance of making the playoffs. Their odds are significantly impacted by their 0-2 divisional record. And with this recent lost. I am optimistic but only to a point. They would have to win every game and have some luck. Am I wrong?

The Falcons wouldn't have to win every single game from here on out, but they'd have to win significantly more than they lose. You could maybe get away with a couple losses, but only if those losses are not in NFC South play. Period. You're at the point now where you really do need to win your next four division games and hope the Bucs and Panthers lose a lot more than they win.

The Athletic and New York Times just released theirPlayoff Simulatorthis week. Here's how they have things listed out for the Falcons as it stands. (Spoiler alert: The odds are not in the Falcons' favor as they only have three wins and are 0-2 in their division.)

At third place in the NFC South and 3-5 overall, the Falcons have a 10% chance to make the playoffs, a 2% chance to win the division and less than a 1% chance to get a first-round bye and/or win the Super Bowl.

For comparison's sake, the Bucs hold a 93% chance to make the playoffs. The Panthers? 19%.

And if I am being honest, for the Falcons to even keep any dream alive, their home game against Carolina the week after this upcoming Germany trip will be the make-or-break moment. If the Falcons win, there's a world they stay alive. If they lose to the Panthers and drop to 0-3 in the division with two losses to a team one rung above them in rankings? That would probably do it. Well, according to the simulator, if the Falcons lose to the Colts and the Panthers, they would have a 2% chance of making the postseason. So, yeah.

Nick M. from Chicago, Illinois

What the heck is going on with this whole snapping the ball because of the Patriots' clapping? I have watched a ton of video and I just don't get how the center snapped it because a safety may have clapped?

Raheem Morris was asked about this directly during Monday's press conference. Here is his answer, which I think does add a bit more clarity to the situation. He took his players' word for it.

"This was our players telling us that they simulated the snap out there. They heard something, and obviously they did. That is why they snapped it," Morris said. "There was no intent that they did anything wrong. I was just telling you what had happened when I was asked why the ball was snapped early. It was snapped early by our fault. It's on us, and we have to find a way when the ball is snapped early to try not to get an intentional grounding. It's hard when you have a free runner running at you. We can't snap the ball early no matter what anybody does. It's gotta be more about us. That was me being angry yesterday. Somebody asked what happened and I was just being honest about what the guys told me coming off the grass."

So, that's that on that. Even if the safety did indeed clap loud enough to draw a snap out of Ryan Neuzil, I do not believe there was any intent behind that to actually make that happen. Not when the safety in question was 15 yards away from the line of scrimmage, facing the opposite direction from Michael Penix Jr. in the pocket.

From @triplethepugg on X/Twitter

Any chance a certain German kicker gets a chance in Germany?

I live in two areas of thought about this question, and they conflict with each other.

Lenny Krieg is on this roster and has been for a while. You have a kicker who just missed an extra point. You're going to Germany. You are playing a seven-win team. Why not just run him out there and see what happens? Do you have anything to lose at this point?

My other thought, however, is that he is not ready. And the evidence and decision-making to this point I feel backs this up.

Krieg was on this roster throughout the preseason. He did not do enough to beat Younghoe Koo out of the job. When Koo struggled and his time with the Falcons neared its end, the Falcons did not look to Krieg. They looked to the streets. They brought in kickers time and time again, over and over. They signed two Parker Romo and Ben Sauls. If Krieg was ready to take on the mantel of starting NFL kicker, wouldn't he have been given the opportunity by now, considering the rollercoaster of kicking woes the team has had since the start of the season? Genuinely, that's the question I have. Because, to me, that signals a lack of confidence. You have him on the team, but you don't trust him as much as you do kickers you've worked out from time to time. That doesn't bode well.

Morris was asked about the kicking situation Monday. This is what he had to say:

"We have to look at that, and we have started that process already. We've worked out a bunch of different people. So, we've been able to bring people in and figure out what it is going to be this week.

"At the end of the day, you have to make that kick. Those pressure situations aren't built on practice fields. They are built in games. They are built in that environment."

The Falcons reportedly released Romo on Tuesday, and signed kicker Zane Gonzalez after a Tuesday workout at the team's facility,according to a report from NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.

AsTerrin Waack reported, Gonzalez joins the Falcons with six years of playing experience. He has made 96 of his 120 field-goal attempts. That's good for an 80% career success rate. His career-long stands at 57 yards from 2021.

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