Atlanta Falcons: How will the 2015 season be remembered?
Every NFL teams’ goal at the start of a season is to win a super bowl and anything other than that is considered to be a lost year but does that really apply to the Atlanta Falcons in 2015?
After two dreadful years in 2013 and 2014 the Falcons elected to fire former head coach Mike Smith and bring in Dan Quinn from Seattle. Quinn then brought in several new coaches to join his staff including offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan who everyone has just fallen in love with. I kid.
Success in a new coaches’ first season isn’t expected but after jumping out to a 5-0 record, many believed that the Falcons would walk right into the postseason and have a somewhat decent shot at making a run towards a championship. That was not the case.
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Atlanta sat at 6-1 after the teams’ first seven games and then laid an extremely large egg. The Falcons lost six games in a row from that point on and have followed that up with two consecutive wins to be sitting at an 8-7 record with one game to play.
The Falcons managed to knock off the 14-0 Carolina Panthers in week 16 to everyone’s surprise but on the same day were eliminated from playoff contention.
There are a lot of different views out there on how the Falcons’ 2015 season will be remembered when it’s all said and done. Some will say it was a success. The team showed flashes of brilliance but at other times showed a lack of discipline and talent.
While everyone wants to see their team make it into the postseason, an 8-8 or 9-7 record is nothing to hang your hat on for a team with a completely new identity from a season ago. Atlanta is running an entirely new offensive and defensive scheme and quite frankly do not have the players to succeed in those respective schemes just yet.
Look at it from the college level. When a new college head coach is hired it usually takes that respected coach 2-3 years before he is able to recruit his own players and bring in guys that fit his style of play. The NFL is no different.
Quinn is a defensive guy and always will be. His scheme is both simple and complex at the same time and doesn’t have the talent he needs in order to succeed like his team’s did in Seattle. But, they definitely appear to be headed in the right direction.
This season should be remembered as the start of something great. Its be beginning of a new era of football in Atlanta and a lot of great memories are right around the corner. The Falcons have all the cornerstone players already on the roster and once they are able to fill in the cracks around them, look out.
Rome wasn’t built in a day so don’t expect Quinn to build the Falcons in a year.
Rise up!