Atlanta Falcons: The journey toward Super Bowl 51 starts today

The Atlanta Falcons’ journey toward Super Bowl 51 officially starts today after the Denver Broncos knocked of the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

The Falcons will not have to live with the fact that their division rival Panthers walked out of Levi’s Stadium with the Lombardi trophy and will now look forward towards free agency and the 2016 NFL draft.

The Falcons had a very up and down 2015 season but showed everyone around the league that they can in fact compete with the best.

Atlanta has the pieces in place to succeed such as a franchise quarterback, running back and wide receiver and also have some nice pieces on defense, but in order to get to the big dance in 2016, the Falcons will need to be more consistent.

The Falcons still need to fix their dreadful pass rush on the defensive side of the ball and also figure out a way on how to spread the ball around better on offense.

The main needs for the Falcons include defensive end, linebacker, center, wide receiver and safety but could also address others as well.

The NFC south division has gone from one of the worst to one of the best in just one season and will be even better in 2016. The Panthers should be just as good and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers should continue to get better as well.

The Falcons will have one of if not the hardest NFL schedule in 2016 and will need to fix the little mistakes that plagued them in 2015 in order to translate close games into wins rather than losses.

It will be an exciting two months leading up to free agency and the draft and will be a time that the Falcons need to hammer on in order to better prepare themselves next season.

Next: Atlanta Falcons' updated 2016 mock draft

What would you like to see them do in the next three months?