Outside of the last few minutes of the season, the Atlanta Falcons had a dream year in 2016. They cruised through their opponents, both in the regular season and the playoffs.
It was a season that came out of nowhere; the year prior, they started hot by going 5-0, but then things fell apart, and they missed the playoffs.
No fanbase would appreciate a similar season more than Falcons fans, and it is something they could have this year when you consider the similarities between the dynamics and the roster.
Falcons' 2025 season is setting up like their historic 2016 season
The 2024 Atlanta Falcons had similar problems to 2015's: they were set up for a postseason spot before faltering, they were adjusting to new coaches and schemes, and their inconsistent offense couldn't make up for a bad defense.
Going into 2025, they have a similar starting lineup on offense that will benefit greatly from Zac Robinson being more comfortable.
Think about the jump Kyle Shanahan made in his second season; that is what will happen with Robinson.
We know the Dirty Birds don't have Julio Jones, but Drake London is no slouch. The complements are better this year too (all due respect to the great Mohamed Sanu).
Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were excellent players, but no one would pick them over Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier.
Tight end is the weird one; would you take Jacob Tamme and a rookie Austin Hooper over Kyle Pitts? Probably not, but some might push back on that.
All this said, we can't expect them to end up in the top ten in points scored in a season like happened in the Super Bowl season, but they don't need to.
This year's team has a more talented defense than 2016's. This franchise didn't have Jessie Bates III or A.J. Terrell Jr., and this year's team arguably has more depth.
The Falcons need to pull on their success from nearly a decade ago and replicate that season, but this time they need to finish.