The Falcoholic
We’re not all that far away from the beginning of training camp, and I hope everyone’s enjoyed their quiet late spring and summer months. The Atlanta Falcons are going to be ramping up soon, and with that will come our own level of investment ramping up to heights that will be partially determined by just how good this team looks in August.
If I may try to frame up this season well before it begins, though, I’d say we should keep in mind that whether this year brings playoffs or seven wins, a Michael Penix Jr. renaissance or a Tua Tagovailoa spectacular, fantastic play or frustration, 2026 is about one word. Progress.
The Falcons have been stuck in neutral for close to a decade now. They only truly bottomed out one year—that’d be 2020, when they started 0-5 and finished 4-12 while firing Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff along the way—but have gone either 7-9, 8-8, or 8-9 in seven other seasons since they last pulled together a winning campaign. The roster has changed, the coaching staff has changed, the front office has changed, but what the Falcons have really excelled at since 2018 is milling about aimlessly. They never hit rock bottom, but they also never got particularly far off the ground over the course of all those campaigns.
But as we look ahead, let’s not forget the way the last three regimes stagnated quickly. Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff’s Falcons were great in his second season, good in his third, and mediocre-to-bad for three straight seasons. Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot’s Falcons stayed mediocre after the team seemingly squeezed some real juice out of a depleted roster in 2021. Raheem Morris and Fontenot’s Falcons made splashy moves and ended up under .500 regardless. Those teams flickered dimly because the foundations they were built on poor decisions and shaky foundations, with stars who had to endure instability and incompetence just to drag this team to sevenish wins. This new regime will be justly judged not just on what they do year one, but what comes out of year one, and how sturdy the foundation and the strategy both seem to be and ultimately are.
I don’t expect Kevin Stefanski, Ian Cunningham, and Matt Ryan to be miracle workers. I don’t think this team has the talent base, top to bottom, of a Super Bowl-contending team. I think competent quarterback play and competent coaching could have them pushing for a wild card slot or (unfortunately, a likely to be less impressive) NFC South title, especially given the deep uncertainty swirling around the division. But what I’m ultimately looking for is a sign that this franchise is moving away from the morass of mediocrity we Falcons fans have become used to and toward a future where Atlanta football matters again. I want signs the plan is working, that the pieces this new regime has put together show the brain trust will know what they’re doing with a full complement of draft...
