The Atlanta Falcons are headed into the regular season with something to prove, hungry to change the luck of a franchise which has largely underachieved over the last decade.

Addressing that underachieving is exactly what Kevin Stefanski is being brought in to do, and fan expectations are seemingly fairly high for his first season as head coach. With the roster Atlanta has and the weak division it still plays in, there's no reason why those expectations shouldn't be high.

The team has to take things one game at a time and not get caught looking ahead, focusing on the daily process and what it takes to reach their goals rather than on the goals themselves.

Looking at the schedule, things are going to get real very quickly in terms of games that have a huge impact on the divisional race, and while Week 1 on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers is big, Week 2 is even bigger. Stefanski will get his first taste of NFC South action with the Carolin Panthers coming to town on September 20.

Falcons Host Panthers For Early Showdown

Last season, Atlanta was swept by Carolina for the first time since 2013 with one loss coming in blowout fashion at 30-0 on the road and the home loss coming in heartbreaking fashion 30-27 in overtime.

These are two teams that historically are very close with the Falcons leading the all-time series 37–25 and seeing five splits in a row before the Panthers got the best of the series twice last season.

On paper, these are one again two fairly evenly matched teams and playing the odds, a split feels like the most likely scenario. Getting Carolina at home though this early in the season feels like an opportunity for Atlanta to make a statement early on to the rest of the division that this year it's theirs to lose.

The Falcons absolutely have the roster to win the NFC South, but the Panthers are a team they are going to have to go through. Being swept by them is unacceptable, and if Stefanski wants to establish himself as someone who needs to be feared by the South, beating the defending champions right out of the gate is going to be a great way to make that happen.

It should be a very close game, but it's time for Atlanta to take back this rivalry early on in the year and hand the Panthers a parting gift of a loss.