The 2008 Atlanta Falcons: Setting the Tone for the Future

The Atlanta Falcons haven’t had a lot of great teams in their 40-plus year history. In fact, most of the teams have been bad. But when they are good, they have been exciting for fans.

Some of the better years that the Falcons have had are 1978, 1980, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2004, and 2008.

Most fans would say that the 1998 Atlanta Falcons was their favorite team because they are the only team to go to the Super Bowl. They are also one of my favorite Falcons teams, but my favorite Falcons squad has to be from 2008.

Now, they did not reach the Super Bowl, in fact, they did not get past the first round of the playoffs. But what they were able to accomplish paved the way for the future of the franchise.

In 2007, they had lost Michael Vick due to him going to jail for dog fighting and their head coach Bobby Petrino quit with three games left in the season to take the head coaching job at Arkansas.

So they had to rebuild from the ground up in 2008, and it started with drafting Matt Ryan and signing Michael Turner. Also, General Manager Thomas Dimitroff was hired as well as head coach Mike Smith.

Based on what happened in 2007 and the fact that Falcons lost veterans to free agency, some prognosticators picked the Falcons to win only one game in 2008. Boy, were they wrong.

It started in the first game of the season against the Detroit Lions, where, on Ryan’s first pass as a NFL quarterback he threw a touchdown to Michael Jenkins that led to a great opening victory to set the tone for the season.

But the signature win for the Falcons had to be against the Chicago Bears as Ryan threw a quick pass to Jenkins on the sideline with one second left to give Jason Elam a chance to kick a field goal.

Elam did just that and the Falcons come away with a win that they probably should have lost.

After that, the Falcons came away with wins against Oakland, Tampa Bay, Carolina New Orleans, St. Louis, and Minnesota to clinch a wild card spot and they lost to the Arizona Cardinals in the opening round.There was disappointment, but the Falcons made strides that year and were back to being a team that was on the rise.

I think unlike the other good Falcons teams, the 2008 group did not have a letdown in any game. Sure they lost five games during the season, but they never lost back-to-back games and they never got blown out in the losses.

Plus, Ryan won Rookie of the Year, Smith won Coach of the Year, and running back Michael Turner was second in MVP voting.

The 2008 Atlanta Falcons were a young team that exceeded expectations. After a dreadful 2007 season, 2008 was a season that all Falcons fans needed to make them believe that there are better days ahead.

And with the new editions to the 2009 unit, those days are looking to come sooner than later.