Resurrection of a Franchise: Revisiting the 2008 Atlanta Falcons Season

In December of 2007, Bill Parcells used the Atlanta Falcons and ESPN’s Chris Mortensen to squeeze a little more money out of the Miami Dolphins.  For Bill Parcells it was just business, but for the Falcons it felt like a last brutal kick in the face for a franchise that had taken a terrible beating in 2007.

It may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened for the franchise.

The Falcons recovered from the Parcells fiasco by hiring little known Thomas Dimitroff as General Manager and even lesser known Mike Smith as Coach. For outsiders, it might have looked like the Falcons had hired the only men willing to accept those jobs.

If that is the case, the Atlanta Falcons made the two luckiest hires in the history of labor management. Everybody knows who these guys are now.

Dimitroff swiftly and dramatically began reshaping the Falcons roster.  The Falcons parted ways with former Pro Bowl players Rod Coleman (released), Warrick Dunn (released), Alge Crumpler (released), and DeAngelo Hall (traded).

The Falcons appeared to be sacrificing any chance of winning in 2008 in the name of getting younger.

In reality, the Falcons roster still contained a lot of young talent in players like Jerious Norwood, Chris Houston, Roddy White, Justin Blaylock, and Jonathan Babineaux. Talent is easily overlooked when the team is 4-12.

In March, the Falcons made their first splash in free agency, signing Michael Turner to a six-year contract with $15 million in guaranteed money. 

As the 2008 draft approached, fans and media speculated that the Falcons would use the third pick in the draft on defensive tackle Glen Dorsey, despite the Falcons’ glaring need at quarterback.

The Falcons bypassed Glen Dorsey on draft day for Matt Ryan, counting on him to not only fill the teams need at quarterback, but also allow the franchise to move on psychologically. 

Of course, that would only be possible if Matt Ryan produced on the field.

Following the selection of Ryan, the Falcons used the remaining draft picks to methodically address needs while acquiring good value. Dimitroff traded back up into the first round to draft Sam Baker to protect Matt Ryan’s weak side.

The Falcons selected Curtis Lofton in the second round to play in the middle of the Falcons defense, and he started all 16 games in 2008. The team picked up explosive wide receiver Harry Douglas and cornerback Chevis Jackson in the third round, and promising players Thomas DeCoud and Kroy Bierman in the later rounds.

Even with the seemingly positive direction the franchise seemed to be heading, the most optimistic Falcons fan thought the young team would struggle badly in 2008.  The team sported a new coach, new coordinators, and rookie starters at the critical QB, LT, and MLB positions. 

The best case scenario looked to be that the 2008 Falcons might be the reincarnation of the 1989 Dallas Cowboys, which featured rookies Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin on an offense that included Herschel Walker.

The 1989 Cowboys defense featured Jim Jeffcoat and young linebackers Jack Del Rio and Ken Norton. Those Cowboys were coached by rookie NFL coach Jimmy Johnson, who would lead the squad to consecutive Super Bowl wins following the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

The 1989 version went 1-15, and that is about where people expected the 2008 Falcons to finish.

After a respectable but unspectacular showing in the preseason, the Falcons opened the 2008 regular season as three point home underdogs against the Detroit Lions.  The Falcons proved to the league in that game that they were not the worst team in the league, and we all know how that turned out for the Detroit Lions.

In the next three games, the Falcons would suffer two tough road losses at Tampa and Carolina and score a nice win at home over the Chiefs. For the only time during the season, Matt Ryan looked like a rookie in the first half at Tampa.

Against Carolina, the rest of the offense looked like rookies, as the Birds experienced a litany of missed assignments and dropped passes. These tough losses were part of the "process".

The young Falcons grew up in Weeks Five and Six.

The Falcons scored a big upset win over the Packers at Lambeau Field in Week Five thanks to a balanced offensive attack and a crucial interception of Aaron Rogers late in the game.  The victory raised a few eyebrows around the league, but everyone would take notice of Matt Ryan and the Falcons in Week Six. 

In Week Six, the Falcons dominated the Chicago Bears for three quarters, but did not put the game out of reach due to red zone struggles. The Bears scored a touchdown on a horrible mistake by Atlanta secondary to take a 20-19 lead with only 11 seconds left in regulation.

Atlanta fans had seen this movie before. The Falcons dominate a game for three quarters then find a way to lose it in the fourth. It’s the kind of stuff that losers are made of, and for the great majority of their history, the Falcons had been losers.

Not this time.

After the Falcons returned the Bears’ squib kick to their own 44-yard line, Matt Ryan made as clutch a throw as you will ever see. With only seven seconds left in the game and under a heavy pass rush, Matt Ryan hit Michael Jenkins on a perfectly thrown 26-yard sideline route that gave the Falcons a field goal opportunity with one second on the clock.

When Jason Elam knocked that ball through the uprights to win the game, it washed away the pain of the 2007 season and all of the garbage that came with it.

The Falcons would go 6-3 the rest of the way, and they were in every game. The team finished the regular season with an improbable 11-5 record because a lot of things went right.

Matt Ryan played like a 10-year veteran instead of a rookie, and he consistently made clutch throws on third down. He helped his young line by getting rid of the ball quickly, as all of the great quarterbacks do. 

The Falcons offensive line, thought to be horrible at the beginning of the season, set a franchise record by allowing only 17 sacks all season, with the aforementioned help from Ryan.

The 2008 rookie class featured no less than 6 players who made a mark. Highlights included Chevis Jackson sealing a win against the Saints with a 95-yard interception return TD and Harry Douglas completely taking over a late season win against the Carolina Panthers.

The Michael Turner signing worked out well, as he powered his way to 1699 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.   

The defense bent but did not break, finishing 11th in total points allowed.

The remarkable 2008 season is attributable to three primary factors: Excellent player evaluation by the front office, outstanding leadership by the head coach and rookie quarterback, and consistent and focused effort by the Falcons players.

That effort is reflected in the fact the Falcons did not give up 30 points in a regular season game, and all of the Falcons losses were a one possession game at some point in the fourth quarter. 

The Falcons are the only team in the league that can make both of those claims, and that is not bad for a team that was the consensus pick to be the worst team in the league.  I guess that is why they play the games.

The 2008 Atlanta Falcons—who swam through a river of Vick and Petrino and came out clean on the other side.