The Atlanta Falcons play within the NFC South division of the National Football League. In the 2009 season, the Falcons finished in second place in their division with a record of 9-7. They missed out on the NFL playoffs as the two wild-card teams were the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers.www.nfl.com

As with all other NFL teams, the Falcons play in a 16-game season that spans 17 weeks once you factor in a bye. There are also approximately 3-4 pre-season games played in addition to however many in the event that the team makes the playoffs. It is feasible that a NFL team could play four additional games in the postseason: the wild-card game, division playoff, conference championship, and the Super Bowl.

Although the official 2010 NFL schedule for the Falcons will not be released until April, the system used for choosing teams has enabled us to see which teams they will face off against this fall. For starters, all NFL teams face off against the other three teams in their division twice -- once at home and once on the road.http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/10551686 They also play four teams from an opposing division in the AFC on a rotating cycle one time each -- in the case of the Falcons, their division will be the AFC North. They also play four teams from within a separate division in the NFC -- which will be the NFC West in 2010.

Finally, as second-place finishers in their division the Falcons will also face off against the other two second-place finishers in the NFC that are not already scheduled to play -- in this case the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers.http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/10551686

As expected, eight of these games will be played at home whereas eight other games will be played on the road. While no official TV networks have been announced yet, the Falcons will play all of their in-conference games on Fox, while two games against the AFC will air on CBS.www.foxsports.com If the Falcons participate in any night games over the course of the season, they will either air nationally on ESPN, NBC, or the NFL Network.

All of Atlanta's home games will be played at the Georgia Dome, whereas road games will of course be played at opposing stadiums.

The Falcons will face off against the following teams in the 2010 season. Dates are to be determined:

Home: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals

Away: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers

Unless nationally-televised in primetime, all games against NFC opponents will air on Fox.www.foxsports.com