The Morning TiltWednesday, October 21, 2026

Every other club in this city carries a number into this morning -- 94-68 for the Braves in a season that is over, 2-4 for the Falcons through six games, thirty points from thirty matches for Atlanta United, one win each for the Dream in a Finals that is level. The Hawks carry nothing at all, and that ends at seven o'clock tonight in Orlando.

The Dream host Game 3 with the series tied at a win apiece, and Monday's Game 2, won 79-65 at Chase Center, was the first Finals win in the franchise's history. Three more of them and Atlanta are champions. Eight o'clock, State Farm Arena, with Game 4 back here on Saturday at one and Game 5 in San Francisco on Monday -- a series level at a win each cannot be settled before all three of them are played. Simone has the fourth quarters Atlanta kept losing in games it was already winning, and Dex has what the title market did on Tuesday and what the Finals MVP board did not.

Hawks

The record is empty. The first thing that goes into it arrives at Kia Center at seven o'clock, with Atlanta as the road club, and until then the only numbers attached to this team belong to a season that finished in April -- 46-36, the sixth seed in the East. Orlando's version of that is 45-37 and the eighth seed. Two clubs a game apart on paper for six months, level on everything that counts tonight.

Two of the eighteen names on the roster will not play. Mouhamed Gueye is out with a fracture in his left foot and a return date reading November 20. Henri Veesaar is out for the season; the injury row says only "knee, right," but ESPN reported in September that he had torn the ACL in it, which is a detail the row itself has never carried. Orlando will be without four, two of them ruled out on Tuesday afternoon, and that establishes who cannot play and nothing whatever about who starts.

Simone has what the conference ballots did with Atlanta's name, and it is the thing to read before the ball goes up.

Braves

Atlanta have been out of this October for two weeks. They took the wild card round from Philadelphia two games to one at Truist Park, then lost the division series to Los Angeles three games to one. Los Angeles went on to Milwaukee and did not win a game there -- four games to none.

Five Atlanta pitchers finished the season on the 60-day injured list: Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, Joey Wentz and Joe Jimenez. Three of them -- Schwellenbach, Wentz and Jimenez -- threw no major league innings in 2026 at all. Strider threw thirty-nine of them, at a 5.31. Waldrep threw ten and two-thirds, at an 8.44.

Set against that, Chris Sale made twenty-seven starts, threw a hundred and sixty-two and two-thirds innings at a 2.16, struck out two hundred and walked thirty-one. Atlanta won 94 games anyway, and the National League East by six.

Falcons

The last thing that changed on this roster was the quarterback room, and that was Monday. Miles has what staying four deep cost. Since then, nothing: ESPN's board lists four Falcons questionable and nobody ruled out, the newest Atlanta entry on it is C.J. Henderson with a groin, filed around lunchtime on Tuesday, and there is not a single row dated today. The Wednesday practice report has not landed.

San Francisco come to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday at one o'clock at 6-0, the only club in the league with six wins and no defeats. Two others still have no defeat either: Kansas City and Minnesota are both 5-0 through five games, both are still on Atlanta's schedule, and of the two only Kansas City comes to this stadium. Atlanta are 2-4 on the season.

Atlanta United

Chicago Fire come to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday at 7:30, fourth in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta do not play before then.

Their thirty points come out of eight wins and six draws. The other sixteen matches were defeats, which is more than the wins and the draws put together, and the goals read thirty-seven scored against fifty-one conceded.

Fifteen of those thirty were at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the last one Atlanta won there was on August 23, against Sporting Kansas City. The five home matches since have produced one point between them -- a two-all draw with New York City FC on September 26.

Dex has the Junior Alonso moment and who ended up owning the clip of it.

One more thing.

Atlanta's 2027 schedule is already published, and it opens with six straight road games.

Three at Dodger Stadium, on March 25, 27 and 28, against the club that put the Braves out this month. Then three at American Family Field on the 29th, 30th and 31st, against the club that put Los Angeles out in the round after that. The first home game is April 2, Houston at Truist Park.

The second of those two parks hosts Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night. Atlanta's next baseball season begins in the two places this one finished behind.