Since the 2021 season, the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans have been given the NFL’s earliest bye week twice. This is generally thought to be a disadvantage considering it means these teams have to play 13 straight games without a break. Plus, that’s not even taking the playoffs into account.

This long stretch of games is one reason why fans generally root for a bye week that’s close to the middle of the season. However, its the early bye week that seems to be a bigger factor. If a team has a late-season bye week, this gives them a chance to get some late-season rest before going to the postseason.That’s equivalent to an entire NFL regular season with no break.

Starting with the 2021 season below, let’s take a look at how recent teams have fared before and after getting an early season bye week.

Early Bye Week teams (2021 season)

For the 2021 season, only the 49ers were able to turn things around after the bye, but that’s to be expected from a good team like San Francisco. They were consistent playoff contenders before and after this season. As for the Falcons, Jets, and Saints, they were just bad teams before and after the bye week that year.

Now, let’s look at the 2022 NFL season. This was the last year that the NFL’s earliest bye week was held in Week 6.

Early Bye Week teams (2022 season)

The Titans are a good case study on whether or not an early bye can derail a team down the stretch. They were 3-2 going into their bye week, and went 4-1 over the following five weeks. However, they dropped seven straight games to end the season and slowly saw their playoff chances crumble.

On the other hand, the Lions were quite the opposite. They went into their bye week with just one win in their first five games and finished the season with a 9-8 record. However, this could also be due to internal changes and adjustments, because the Lions after this particular bye week have become one of the best teams in the entire league.

As for the other two teams, it’s the same story as usual, bad teams are going to still be bad teams regardless of where their bye falls. Now, lets look at the 2023 season, which was the first year the early bye week started coming at Week 5.

Early Bye Week teams (2023 season)

The Browns went on a tear after their bye week, winning five of their next six games before they suffered back-to-back losses. They ended the regular season with another run of wins by going 4-1 and then losing in the Wildcard to the Texans. The Buccaneers took quite a while to shake off the rust by going 1-6 after the bye week. They were given the benefit of being in a poor division that allowed them to come back and win with a 9-8 record.

Last but not least, let’s check out the early bye week teams from 2024.

Early Bye Week teams (2024 season)

Disregarding the Titans, last season saw some of the best teams get an early bye week and two of them ended the season with just one more loss. Even more so, the early bye very much benefited Nick Sirianni, who was on the hot seat going into the bye week.

As we know now, the Eagles became the best team in the league in that span and eventually won the Super Bowl. The Lions couldn’t hold their defense together for long but played well up until the playoffs.

So, does having an early bye week really derail a teams season going forward? Since the 2021 season, six of the 16 teams given an early bye went on to make the playoffs, with one even winning the Super Bowl.

As for the rest, other than the one Titans’ 2022 season, the early bye week doesn’t seem to have a detrimental effect on each team’s success. Sometimes bad teams are just that, while the good teams know how to keep going.

So if the Falcons fail to make the postseason yet again in 2025, it likely won’t be due to having an early bye week.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Does Falcons’ early bye week hurt playoff chances?