Ten Years In The Making

The 2007 National Football League season was as forgettable as can be for the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons saw their franchise quarterback Michael Vick arrested for his role in a dog fighting ring. 13 games into the season, Bobby Petrino would resign as the head coach of the Falcons before even finishing a year on the job in order to go to the collegiate ranks and become the head football coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Falcons would finish the season with a record of 4-12 as they had to face the reality that they were now rebuilding.

After the season Falcons team president and general manager Rich McKay would rescind his post as the team’s GM. The Falcons would then hire Thomas Dimitroff who was the New England Patriots director of college scouting to be their new general manager as he would join McKay and team owner Arthur Blank to form the brain trust that would work towards turning Atlanta into a contender.

The Falcons first order of business was to find a head coach as they hired Mike Smith who had spent the previous five years as the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The next order of business for the Falcons was to find a new franchise quarterback. And on the heels of the Falcons 4-12 campaign, they entered the 2008 National Football League Draft owning the third overall selection. The Falcons would promptly select quarterback Matt Ryan who entered the NFL as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player of the Year after he helped the Boston College Eagles reach the conference title game for the first time in school history. And Ryan would provide immediate dividends for the Falcons at the quarterback position as he provided them with leadership.

Ryan was named as the Falcons starting quarterback coming out training camp and his first pass in the National Football League went for a touchdown as he connected with wide receiver Michael Jenkins for a 62-yard TD. Ryan would be named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year as he helped Atlanta reach the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

In four of Ryan’s first five seasons with the Falcons, the team would make the postseason which included them having home-field advantage on two separate occasions. But over that stretch the Falcons were only able to win one playoff game while they were unable to advance to the Super Bowl. Ryan and Smith had developed the moniker of not being able to win the big game. And after the Falcons had consecutive losing seasons in 2013 and 2014, Smith was fired.

The Falcons would head to the Pacific Northwest in order to find their next head as they hired Seattle Seahakws defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. The Falcons were hopeful that Quinn could bring some of the magic that led to the Seahawks winning Super Bowl 48 as Atlanta was looking to get back on track.

In 2015, the Falcons would begin the season with a record of 5-0, but they would falter down the stretch as they finished 8-8 and missed out on the playoffs. However where some of the right buttons weren’t pushed for the Falcons last season, the same cannot be said this time around.

After the Falcons lost their season opener at home to the Bucs, they would reel off four consecutive wins before they lost their next two. The writing was on the wall for the Falcons to take another dive when they were 4-3, but they would win seven of their final eight games to win the NFC South for the first time since 2012, while also securing a first-round bye. And even though that the Falcons had a new head coach, the moniker of being unable to win the big game hung over their heads heading into the playoffs.

In the divisional round the Falcons would welcome the Seahawks to town as this was the only team that Ryan had a playoff victory over. The Seahawks would take the opening kickoff and march down the field for a touchdown to give them the early lead on the road. However the Falcons would immediately respond as Ryan orchestrated a touchdown drive that ate up more than seven minutes of game clock. And when Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was tackled in his own end zone for a safety in the second quarter, the flood gates opened up for the Falcons at the Georgia Dome.

Atlanta would rattle of 19 consecutive points which included scoring a touchdown to end the first half along with one to begin the third quarter. And before you knew it the Seahawks were getting the brakes beaten off of them as they would lose 36-20.

But when the Green Bay Packers would knock off the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, it meant that there would be one final football game at the Georgia Dome as the Falcons would host the NFC Championship Game for just the second time in franchise history. And the Falcons would have to do it against the Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers who entered the NFC Championship Game as the hottest quarterback in football, while he got the best of Ryan and Atlanta in a decisive 48-21 victory over Atlanta in the divisional round en route to winning Super Bowl 45. However this time around Rodgers and the Packers would have to face a different Falcons team.

In Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, the Falcons received the opening kickoff and Ryan immediately led them down the field on an 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped off when he found wide receiver Mohamed Sanu on a two-yard touchdown pass to give them the early 7-0 lead.

Rodgers would get his chance to respond, but the Falcons defense was all over him like ugly on an ape, and before you knew it, Ryan was getting into a rhythm. Ryan led the Falcons on three touchdown drives in the first half as he connected on a pair of TD passes while calling his own number on another. But even with Ryan’s stellar first-half performance, the big shocker was that Atlanta’s defense had stifled Rodgers as the Falcons took a 24-0 lead to the dressing room.

And just when you expected the Falcons to falter in the second half while Rodgers would once again rise to the occasion to orchestrate another thrilling Packers comeback, that wasn’t the case as Atlanta would dictate the pace and easily win the game 44-21 for their second NFC Championship in franchise history.

For Ryan, he is in the midst of having an MVP caliber season as during the regular season he passed for 4,944 yards, while throwing 38 touchdowns to just 7 interceptions. But all that Ryan had done in the regular season would not have mattered if he hadn’t been able to lead his team to the Super Bowl, while also erasing the moniker of his inability of being unable to win the big game.

And for McKay and Dimitroff, they are finally vindicated for moving up 21 spots in the first round of the 2011 National Football League Draft in order to select wide receiver Julio Jones sixth overall. Jones has been a stud for the Falcons which included him leading the NFL in receiving yards in 2015 with 1,871 which is the second most in a single-season in league history. But Jones really showed his grit this season as he battled through a turf toe injury while he stilled managed to have 83 receptions and 1,409 receiving yards.

Jones did this primarily in the face of double and triple coverage which opened things up for other Falcons receivers such as Sanu who in his first year in Atlanta after being a member of the Cincinnati Bengals for the last five years, had a career-high in receptions with 59.

But the biggest thing for the Falcons this season is that they are a complete team which is credit to their brain trust in the front office. Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman are one of the best tandems at the position in the league as they combined for 1,599 rushing yards  and 19 yards this season. The Falcons offensive line was solidified last off-season when the signed center Alex Mack. In seven years with the Cleveland Browns, Mack was a four-time Pro Bowl selection as he was one of the best centers in the National Football League, and his addition in Atlanta gave the Falcons something that they have lacked for a very long time which is an anchor on their offensive line.

The Falcons selected outside linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. in the first round of last year’s draft. And after Beasley had a disappointing rookie campaign as he only tallied 4 sacks, Quinn switched him from defensive end to outside linebacker. All Beasley did this season was to lead the National Football League in sacks with 15.5 sacks as every opposing offensive coordinator in the league must now account for his skills as an edge rusher.

The Falcons still have to get one more victory this season in order for them to claim their first Super Bowl Championship in franchise history, and it won’t be easy as they’ll the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady. Ryan has already defeated a pair of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks in the playoffs, and he’ll need to get a victory over another in Brady if wants to bring the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Atlanta. But Ryan and his teammates have now taken their place alongside “The Dirty Birds” who came out of nowhere to win the NFC Championship in 1998.

Brick by brick Blank, McKay, and Dimitroff have put this Falcons team together that has become a band of brothers and as people continues to write them off, they are simply doing it against all odds.