Falcons' Ending of a Perfect Season Overshadows How Far Atlanta Has Really Come

You've probably already heard, but the Atlanta Falcons played spoiler on Sunday and derailed the Carolina Panthers' chances of a perfect season.

You're probably already aware of the upset because, well, it's going to be one of the biggest stories of this entire week. The Panthers and their chase for perfection has been one of the biggest stories in the entire NFL for the past month or so, and it has definitely been the biggest story in the NFC South.

One NFC topic that hasn't been talked about quite as much—at least not recently—is the improvement made by the Falcons this season under head coach Dan Quinn and his staff. No, that story pretty much died when Atlanta slipped from the ranks of the unbeaten in Week 6 and then kicked off a six-game losing streak in Week 8.

So now, the story surrounding the Falcons is that they are the team that put the Panthers at 14-1.

This is unfortunate because the reality is, the Falcons really have undergone a transformation this season. As things stand, it appears the transformation is very much for the better. Atlanta has already won two more games than it did last season and is a win away from posting a winning record for the first time since 2012.

Do you remember the free-falling tumble the Falcons took after the 2012 season? It was quick, it was dramatic and it was a lasting decline. In that 2012 season, Atlanta won 13 games, won the NFC South and reached the NFC title game.

The Falcons won just 10 games over the next two years. Now, the numbers in the win column are increasing again.

	Record	Division Rank
2012	13-3	1st
2013	4-12	3rd
2014	6-10	3rd
2015*	9-7	2nd

While a sense of improvement can be found in Atlanta's record, we really have to dig a bit deeper to understand how much the team has changed.

For starters, let's look at the makeup of the coaching staff.

Quinn comes from Seattle and brings a defensive mentality to the team. Along with defensive coordinator Richard Smith, Quinn has brought both talent and efficiency to that side of the football. The defense isn't a top-notch unit yet, by any means, but it is trending upward.

Atlanta is currently rated 19th in overall defense and 12th in pass rush by Pro Football Focus. A year ago, the defense was rated 27th in overall defense and 31st in pass rush. Two years ago, the ratings were also 27th and 31st, respectively.

For his offense, Quinn brought in coordinator Kyle Shanahan. He has watched over an offense that is rated sixth overall by Pro Football Focus. This ranking is up from 11th overall in 2014 and 25th overall in 2013.

Of course, the coaching staff is only part of the equation. The players on the field have had a huge hand in the turnaround.

Star receiver Julio Jones (127 receptions, 1,722 yards and eight touchdowns) is playing like he's the best receiver in football. This is nothing new. What has been different is the emergence of guys like running back Devonta Freeman (980 rushing yards, 560 receiving yards, 13 touchdowns), tight end Jacob Tamme (55 receptions, 596 yards) and linebacker Vic Beasley (26 tackles, 4.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception).

Andrew Hirsh of AtlantaFalcons.com noted Beasley's sack total set a new rookie franchise record: 

"

Vic Beasley now has four sacks on the year—the most ever by a Falcons rookie. (The NFL started counting sacks in 1982).

— Andrew Hirsh (@andrewhirsh) December 27, 2015"

Freeman is a second-year back, but he didn't get his first start until this year. Tamme and Beasley were both offseason additions. Thanks to the coaching staff orchestrating some smart scheming, these players—and the rest of the team in general—are regularly put into position to succeed.

Even during the losing skid, the Falcons were competitive almost every week. Of Atlanta's seven losses this season, four have been by less than a touchdown. 

The attitude of this team also seems a lot different than it has in years past. The team is playing fast, physical and with fire. This attitude is part of what Quinn brought with him from the Seattle Seahawks. Gus Bradley, who held the Seattle defensive coordinator job before Quinn, tried to bring it to Jacksonville. However, the culture change there hasn't gone quite so quickly.

The Jaguars have just 12 wins in Bradley's nearly three seasons.

Things seem to be clicking a lot more quickly for Quinn's Falcons. The team easily could have just quit after the season's low point, a 38-0 embarrassment against the Panthers in Week 14.

Instead, it took the whooping as a reason for self-challenge. 

“We looked at this game as a measuring stick for us,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I wanted to really see how we would respond after our ballgame up there a couple of weeks ago, and we certainly did. We knew it was going to be a very tough matchup.”

The Falcons have won two straight since Week 14 and just knocked off the league's last unbeaten team in fairly convincing fashion. No, Atlanta didn't blow out the Panthers. What the Falcons did was play as a complete team and beat a very talented opponent in multiple phases. 

Jones dominated with 178 receiving yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Matt Ryan passed for 306 yards, while Freeman added 73 yards on the ground. The defense sacked Carolina quarterback Cam Newton twice, forced a turnover and shut the door on the Panthers late in the fourth quarter.

In a way, this takes us back to where we were at the top of the article, because what we'll mainly be talking about this week is the Falcons ended Carolina's undefeated streak. What we can't forget to mention, though, is how the Falcons have spent the past 12 months fabricating a team capable of winning such a game.