I Even Bleed Red Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 ATLANTA -- Strolling the sidelines before Monday's season opener, Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff carried the type of cool demeanor that has so often defined him -- but also escaped him late in each of the past two years.A new season often brings such serenity to a man in his position. In this league, a few months' time is generally enough to heal a bruised soul."I feel really good about this," Dimitroff said, looking in the direction of his new head coach, Dan Quinn, who was making some rounds of his own. " (Quinn) just has such a positive demeanor. It's contagious. Everyone feeds off of it."As a reporter or a fan, it's easy to dismiss this optimism as spin. Hope in early September is like a weed: The winter might kill it, but even the slightest bit of sunshine can bring it back to the surface. Atlanta's recent history is a perfect example.But soon after the Falcons' season kicked off Monday night, you didn't need words to make you believe this year might actually be different. You only needed eyes. Through most of four quarters -- yes, even as Chip Kelly's offense stepped up its pace -- the attitude and approach on both sides of the football looked notably different."It's all about playing fast and physical," wide receiver Julio Jones said on the field immediately following Atlanta's 26-24 win over Philadelphia, fresh off a performance that earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.It begs a question: Shouldn't we all have seen this coming?No doubt the result of too many unfulfilled expectations over the past few years, the Falcons made changes -- starting with the addition of Quinn -- that should've made Monday's success less of a surprise than it was. That's not to say the NFL is full of haters or doubters when it comes to the Falcons. Nobody can be blamed for taking a wait-and-see approach to a team with a first-time head coach. But among all of the Week 1 overreactions, it might not be an overreaction at all to say the Falcons have jumped to a new tier of NFC contenders in just one game.Think about it: The question has rarely been a matter of talent and skills -- but rather, toughness and strategy. When you couple Quinn's culture with new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's creativity, you already have remedied a bulk of those previous deficiencies. That's an oversimplified perspective, no doubt, but the premise holds some weight.And we saw exactly that Monday. We saw it in the creative ways Shanahan deployed Matt Ryan, utilizing play action and a fast pace to turn an offense that has been so inexplicably boring into one that actually pushes the potential of its skills players. It is a reminder of Shanahan's schematic brilliance.How did we not see this coming? How did we so quickly forget what Shanahan did with Matt Schaub in Houston? Why didn't we recall the transcendent rookie season Shanahan fostered from Robert Griffin III? Give the guy Ryan and Julio Jones and Roddy White, and you've got 2016's front-runner for upcoming head-coaching vacancies.But this is far from Shanahan's show right now. It's one thing to employ smart offensive strategies. It's quite another to have a team willing to buy into a culture of toughness and physicality. Quinn has turned a soft (yes, soft) defense into an attacking unit capable of keeping pace with Philly's up-tempo attack. The Falcons were tackling better than we've seen them do in years. And while they did, in fact, let the Eagles back into the game during the second half, a late third-down stop that led to a crucial missed field goal proved they weren't willing to lay down easy.This might sound like a far-too-excited look at a team after just one game, but let us not forget just how bad Atlanta's defense performed last season. On average, teams put up more plays and yards per drive against the Falcons than any other team in the NFL. You could easily make a case that Atlanta's D was the league's softest, most vulnerable unit. And so, when the Falcons are able to thwart a team that is constantly praised for its incredible pace, that's not just an impressive start. That's an incredible turnaround.We'll have to find out how teams are able to adjust to what Atlanta did Monday. This was the first chance any of us got to see what Quinn would do with the Falcons' defense and Shanahan with the offense. Now, opponents will have plenty of tape to dissect and scheme against. The next two games are against the Giants and Cowboys, both on the road. If the Falcons can pull out even one of two wins, they'll be sitting at 2-1 overall and within conference play. You easily could have made the case, just three days ago, that Atlanta would have been a prime team to open the season with three straight losses.So, yes, the Falcons have new hope. They have new optimism. But perhaps unlike years past, we're not looking at a team that will die by winter.Maybe this time, the hope was warranted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Even Bleed Red Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-hq/0ap3000000531647/Breakdown-Julio-Jones-vs-Odell-Beckham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLFalcons11 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 "I don't think the Falcons pass rush gets to Eli"Smh these people will never learn to actually watch football and stop going off of last year or stats. Guess we gotta show them again that we are a different breed and a different defense this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vel Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I guess everybody will just stay in 2014 in terms of the Falcons. Ignore OBJ having to see Trufant. Ignore the Eagles only touching Matt 3 times vs us getting to Bradford 8 times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballfan Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Wins will change the image of the Falcons nationally. That is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sponge Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 If we win Sunday, we gain respect. If we go 3-0, we will be in playoff talks with the national media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyicefalcon Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 We get multiple sacks ....mark on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR Falcon Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Well I'm going for 3-0,I don't know about the rest of you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwifalcon Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Wins will change the image of the Falcons nationally. That is all.Man you'd like to think so but I remember 2012 when we were 8-0 and still the media was very reluctant to give us the credit we deserved.If it had been the Boy's GB NE Denver Pitt and so on there all over them NFLlive and Insiders give them 15 or so min.s glowing there praises we'd be lucky to get 5 regardless of the record.We're just not a media darling like those other teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerSteve Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Man you'd like to think so but I remember 2012 when we were 8-0 and still the media was very reluctant to give us the credit we deserved.If it had been the Boy's GB NE Denver Pitt and so on there all over them NFLlive and Insiders give them 15 or so min.s glowing there praises we'd be lucky to get 5 regardless of the record.We're just not a media darling like those other teams.Even if we won a Super Bowl, they'd still pick us to finish out of the play-offs the next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwifalcon Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Even if we won a Super Bowl, they'd still pick us to finish out of the play-offs the next season. Well we already did that in the 98-99 season got to the bowl then folded the next year so I guess the media feeds off our poor history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Even Bleed Red Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 I don't know if I can see the Giants starting off the season 0-2, especially IN New York. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grrrillapmpn Inc.® Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 If we get media attention, it'll be about our strength of schedule. Send it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoYouSeeWhatHappensLarry Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Nice words. A bit too hasty but still, it's nice to see national media optimism. It's also interesting to see the discussion of "toughness and strategy" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blizzard_falcon Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Nice words. A bit too hasty but still, it's nice to see national media optimism. It's also interesting to see the discussion of "toughness and strategy"It's an acknowledgement that this team had the talent to go 56-24 in Ryan's first five seasons, and almost made the SB in 2012.Heck, we should have been at least 8-8 last year, which would have won the division.National respect will come as we continue to show real defensive growth and overall improvement. I am sticking with a 10-6 prediction, but we could be even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madman88 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Man you'd like to think so but I remember 2012 when we were 8-0 and still the media was very reluctant to give us the credit we deserved.If it had been the Boy's GB NE Denver Pitt and so on there all over them NFLlive and Insiders give them 15 or so min.s glowing there praises we'd be lucky to get 5 regardless of the record.We're just not a media darling like those other teams.they were saying no team feared us etc, which was true.We wernt the 07 pats. We wernt the best team, we got out to 8-0 because we played smart football. We didnt turn the ball over, and we were getting turnovers."Win the turnover battle you most likely win the game" mike smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precyse Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 They say Eagles had the best front 7 in the nfl, they couldn't get to Ryan now the say the Giants will? Do people actually think before they speak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califalcon0013 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) How some people prefer obj over julio is crazy just because of that one catch and his pregame warm ups? Lol where's Julio's pregame warm up catch from his rookie year lol dude jumped like 6 ft Edited September 17, 2015 by Califalcon0013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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