Reliving the Atlanta Falcons top moments of the decade

Ahh, the year of great joy and exuberation coupled with the greatest heartbreak possible in sports.

The 2016-17 NFL season for the Atlanta Falcons. It was just Dan Quinn’s second year. People wanted Kyle Shanahan who was the offensive coordinator gone. But man was they wrong.

The Falcons offense took the league by storm. They could score at will against anyone, wherever and whenever. They started the season with a loss before ripping off four straight.

Going into their bye week they were only 6-4, far from an elite team. But Quinn would take over play-calling and Atlanta would win five of their last six games. And then a familiar foe, the Seattle Seahawks, Dan Quinn’s former team.  would come back to the Georgia Dome.

Ah yes, it was the final farewell season for the Georgia Dome too. And the Falcons decided to send it out in style. The Cowboys were the number one seed, but due to an early playoff exit, the road to the Super Bowl came through Atlanta.

And the Falcons took advantage. They dispatched the Seahawks with relative ease and then Matt Ryan got to exorcise his playoff demons against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

The team that, just a few years prior, embarrassed them in Atlanta. But the Falcons offense was a juggernaut. They more than doubled up Green Bay with a 44-21 win.

And on to the Super Bowl, they went. Super Bowl 51, in Houston. The Falcons soared to a 28-3 lead. A pick-six on Tom Brady, an offense that could not be stopped. It was the closest thing to the Greatest Show on Turf the NFL had seen.

And because this is positives only. We’ll stop there. Here’s to another decade of great Atlanta Falcons memories and one day, a Super Bowl.