Is this what the sportswriters really think? This maybe why they are all making terrible predictions.

[southga08]

The only legitimate reasons they should be using is first year head coach, rookie QB, and questionable offensive and defensive lines.

But this (per ESPN),

Reggie in Atlanta, Georgia writes: Hey Pat, what are the chances the Falcons suprise people this year, I dont see them in the playoffs, but can they win 6-8 games this year? I like the upside of Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, and Roddy White.

Pat Yasinskas: First let me say, I don't see any miracle turnaround from the Falcons. They wiped a lot of talent off their roster last year and they play in a division with three tough teams. Plus, they'll be going with a rookie quarterback. But the Falcons do have bright spots, like the guys you mention, and I think they could win five or six games. I think Mike Smith is a good coach and this team will improve as the year goes on. But I think the Falcons need another offseason to acquire enough talent to be a legitimate playoff contender.

Are you kidding me? Old, fall down Warrick Dunn. Alge bum knee Crumpler. Me-Hall. Wayne Gandy. Rod 'I haven't played well in five years' Coleman. It is not like we lost John Abraham. This team is talented, and as soon as the Falcons can get one or two more guys to get solid D-Line play (whether thru draft, free agency, or else) and get some experience, they will be ready to compete for a championship.

[FulCo]

Being a loooong time Falcons fan, the only guy I was sorry to see go was Alge Criumpler. IMO, he would have been a nice fit with this new (and hopefully improved) Falcons team - especailly with a rookie QB that threw to his tight end a lot in college.

Other than that, guys like Deangelo were nothing but expensive dead weight (with all due respect to Dunn).

Go Falcons!

[1FalconsFan]

The only legitimate reasons they should be using is first year head coach, rookie QB, and questionable offensive and defensive lines.

But this (per ESPN),

Reggie in Atlanta, Georgia writes: Hey Pat, what are the chances the Falcons suprise people this year, I dont see them in the playoffs, but can they win 6-8 games this year? I like the upside of Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, and Roddy White.

Pat Yasinskas: First let me say, I don't see any miracle turnaround from the Falcons. They wiped a lot of talent off their roster last year and they play in a division with three tough teams. Plus, they'll be going with a rookie quarterback. But the Falcons do have bright spots, like the guys you mention, and I think they could win five or six games. I think Mike Smith is a good coach and this team will improve as the year goes on. But I think the Falcons need another offseason to acquire enough talent to be a legitimate playoff contender.

Are you kidding me? Old, fall down Warrick Dunn. Alge bum knee Crumpler. Me-Hall. Wayne Gandy. Rod 'I haven't played well in five years' Coleman. It is not like we lost John Abraham. This team is talented, and as soon as the Falcons can get one or two more guys to get solid D-Line play (whether thru draft, free agency, or else) and get some experience, they will be ready to compete for a championship.

Dude screwed this because his predicition is meanless

[Statick]

You should really learn not to listen to sportswriters or take what they have to say seriously.

They operate in group-think. They can't help it.

[Va Falcon 88]

They operate in group-think. They can't help it.

Its so funny, cuz its true. lol

[Statick]

Its so funny, cuz its true. lol

They really do. Take a look at last year with the Pats. They were riding the Pats bandwagon so hard that they couldn't recover when it was derailed by the Giants in the SB.

I've never seen so much backpedalling and excuse-making in my life after that happened. They're so two-faced.

[SINIK4L]

They're so two-faced.

But they are 'experts'.

[schwarzenegger123]

Pat Yasinskas is a ******. The falcons are a better team if for the simple fact that the attitude and team play is much better. The house cleaning was needed for the simple fact that the falcons were not going to go any where, no matter who was on the team, with the organization the way it was. All of the teams that have won in this league in the past 15 years have done it with a team/front office that stresses team play and responsibility first. Look at the colts the patriots and even the giants (who I hate). These teams will not tolerate individuals on the team. Look how Moss is performing in NE. Do you see him run around talking about how great he is anymore, NO.

Losing Crumpler was probably the biggest talent loss for the birds, but with his knee it is probably a wash as far as talent loss goes. Turner is a huge improvement over Dunn, Ryan is a huge improvement over whoever was playing QB last near, the defense is better, the O-line is better. Just a much better team overall. The falcons are going to perform much better than last year as long as the coaching staff can help the kids through the mistakes and injuries that are going to happen. Maybe a winning season, maybe a wild card. But you know this is why we play the games. GO FALCONS!!!!

[falconfanjason]

Crumpler was our biggest loss. Norwood nearly matched Dunn's production last year with half the carries. Turner will make us forget all about Dunn. Coleman kept getting hurt. Hall couldn't keep his mouth shut. Long-term we're better off. Short-term, I expect some growing pains.

[SINIK4L]

The 'talent' we had on our roster led us to seasons of 8-8, 7-9, 4-12. It's not like we were very succesful WITH the talent.

[Joremarid]

The thing is, Pat Yasinkas's job with ESPN is to follow the NFC South and blog on them. He used to work in both Charlotte and Tampa, so he isn't your run of the mill writer who knows nothing about the falcons, but I think he is wrong here. As for those who left:

Warrick Dunn: Michael Turner should be alot more productive then Dunn

Coleman: Hasn't played well in awhile

Crumpler: Will be missed, but hasn't been all that productive lately with his knee. I think we can get at least the same amount of production out of Pollard as we did from Crumpler last year

Hall: Gave us more losses last year then wins.

Crocker: Erik Coleman, nuff said.

Our coaches will also be better, Elam will be a better kicker and our oline looks stronger. We aren't winning 10 games this year, but i do believe 6-8 wins are possible.

[pzummo]

Warrick Dunn. Alge Crumpler. Me-Hall. Wayne Gandy. Rod Coleman.

I really don't understand that either. We lost Dunn and replaced him with Turner. That is a very significant upgrade and RB is probably our strongest position right now. Didn't we use the draft pick from Deangelo to move up and get Sam Baker?!? Plus we are not using $10 mil in cap to pay him like he wanted. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after seeing Baker and Grimes in DHall's place, I am not upset about that one what so ever. Gandy was replaced by Baker, and that looks like an upgrade to me. Coleman still hasn't been picked up by anybody, so what kind of loss of talent is it when no other team wants the player either? I was disappointed about Crumpler leaving, and that was the only talent we lost this offseason. I do understand letting him go though, considering he was the 2nd highest paid TE in the league.

[Joremarid]

the thing is, most people don't know anything about the falcons. The only people they know probably left last year (Vick, Crump, Dunn, Hall, and Coleman). What they don't realize is that these guys (except Vick who there is nothing you can do) were really noncontributory or they were dead weight. But was does surprise me is that Yasinkas doesn't realize this.

We are better off this year then we were last year.

[miKevicK777]

The only legitimate reasons they should be using is first year head coach, rookie QB, and questionable offensive and defensive lines.

But this (per ESPN),

Reggie in Atlanta, Georgia writes: Hey Pat, what are the chances the Falcons suprise people this year, I dont see them in the playoffs, but can they win 6-8 games this year? I like the upside of Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, and Roddy White.

Pat Yasinskas: First let me say, I don't see any miracle turnaround from the Falcons. They wiped a lot of talent off their roster last year and they play in a division with three tough teams. Plus, they'll be going with a rookie quarterback. But the Falcons do have bright spots, like the guys you mention, and I think they could win five or six games. I think Mike Smith is a good coach and this team will improve as the year goes on. But I think the Falcons need another offseason to acquire enough talent to be a legitimate playoff contender.

Are you kidding me? Old, fall down Warrick Dunn. Alge bum knee Crumpler. Me-Hall. Wayne Gandy. Rod 'I haven't played well in five years' Coleman. It is not like we lost John Abraham. This team is talented, and as soon as the Falcons can get one or two more guys to get solid D-Line play (whether thru draft, free agency, or else) and get some experience, they will be ready to compete for a championship.

d hall is a really good cornerback. alge can still play. not sure why u brought up coleman, but hes played very well in recent years, idk where u got 5 years from. and dunn is an okay runningback. This isnt a lie, they were talented. the guy didnt say this team doesnt have talent, he said we got rid of talented guys which is kidna true. crumpler and hall would make this team better, but with the rebuilding process they were gotten rid of so mike smith and thomas d could start their own team. He said falcons need another season to be a legit playoff contender which is true.

Matt Ryan is not going to get us to the promise land this year, hes a rookie and hes going to need some time to be able to compete against guys thats been doing this for years. look at peyton manning, one of the best quarterbacks in the league. His rookie season statiscally was bad, but it was good for him. Because altho the team went 3-13 and he had alot of interceptions and did alot of things wrong, he also got alot of touchdowns and did alot of things right. The next year him and the colts went 13-3 and made the playoffs. This tema is not that talented compared of other playoff teams, what is going to have to be the difference maker on this team is what made the difference in the colts, and thats the quarterback. Give Matt Ryan time to get better and give the team more time to get more talent and this team might be a superbowl contender soon.

[miKevicK777]

the thing is, most people don't know anything about the falcons. The only people they know probably left last year (Vick, Crump, Dunn, Hall, and Coleman). What they don't realize is that these guys (except Vick who there is nothing you can do) were really noncontributory or they were dead weight. But was does surprise me is that Yasinkas doesn't realize this.

We are better off this year then we were last year.

why is hall on the list of really noncontributory or dead weight

[Mr. Offseason]

You should really learn not to listen to sportswriters or take what they have to say seriously.

They operate in group-think. They can't help it.

yup, pretty much. half of them are off their rockers anyways...

[Joremarid]

why is hall on the list of really noncontributory or dead weight

maybe a little exaggeration putting him on the dead weight list, but lately he has let us down more often then not. We would be better with him on the field, but overall I think we are better off without him.

[bozoatl]

Being a loooong time Falcons fan, the only guy I was sorry to see go was Alge Criumpler. IMO, he would have been a nice fit with this new (and hopefully improved) Falcons team - especailly with a rookie QB that threw to his tight end a lot in college.

Other than that, guys like Deangelo were nothing but expensive dead weight (with all due respect to Dunn).

Go Falcons!

Not sure how much of what you read you can believe, but according to Alge's interview in the AJC:

- He was ready to play (knee) last year, but Quitterino held him out.

- He holds no offense toward anyone currently with the Falcons

Sounds like he could have made the transition, and that maybe the knee isn't all that bad. But, like I said, how much can you believe?

[War Damn Eagle]

They operate in group-think. They can't help it.

The same could be said about this message board. How many people here have bought into this crap?

Sam Baker was a reach because he has short arms.

Ryan was an Arthur Blank pick.

Our secondary is gonna suck without D Hall.

Our offensive line is going to be terrible.

No way Ryan starts with this o-line

etc.....

All of the above just proves that this front office and coaching staff are A LOT smarter than us fans give them credit for. That includes Rich McKay.