Flick's Forum: Falcons Set Up for Future with Identity, Foundation Built
The Atlanta Falcons concluded another playoff-less season with a 30-17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, giving the team two wins in as many weeks.
It's an all-too-familiar feeling around Atlanta: a late-season surge after the playoffs become an afterthought, and sudden optimism that the year after can be different.
But 2023 truly can be the year that things finally change.
Why? What's so special about back-to-back 7-10 seasons in the first two years of the Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot regime?
The fact of the matter is that it has more to do with how than what. In year one, Smith and Fontenot took over a team riddled with aging veterans on big contracts, such as quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Julio Jones.
The task ahead was to add pieces that fit Smith's vision for the team and could help build the foundation for years to come - all while working with an air-tight budget and having an ordinary supply of draft picks.
The result? A mixed bag roster with veteran starters on their last legs and young, inexperienced players right behind them, soaking up knowledge while some were forced into bigger roles than planned.
None of this fostered a winning environment - yet Atlanta was playing big games in December and finished with a respectable 7-10 record, all while securing a top-10 pick.
It was a completely different avenue to being competitive, but one the Falcons were forced to take ... because of the circumstance Fontenot and Smith found themselves in and the manner in which it fit into the long-term vision.
"Last year, you talk about the first year in transition," Smith began. "Some of the obstacles that (happened) as we tried to set the foundation, some things we were limited with. We had a little more of a veteran team, we had some guys that had been here a long time. We had some rookies that were playing for the first time, and we had some guys that were first-year that are no longer with us, out of necessity, where we were, to fill out a roster."
Smith added that the 2021 Falcons "gave everything they had," and were better suited to handle close games due to the overwhelming veteran presence, ultimately finishing 7-2 in one-possession contests.
But Atlanta had a point differential of -146, which put it around the likes of three- and four-win teams. The Falcons were on the receiving end of several blowouts and lacked week-to-week competitiveness ... but it was all a part of the "obstacles" with laying a foundation.
Enter the 2022 Falcons.
Smith and Fontenot put together a roster that was the second youngest in the league and had more players 26 years old or younger than anybody else, a complete opposite than the year before.
And still, 7-10 ... but with a team that had to figure out how to win, operating with a new face at quarterback for the first time in 14 years and doing so with the largest dead cap hit in NFL history.
The Falcons finished with the same record and will once again draft No. 8 overall, but played in 13 one-score games, tied for the most in league history. Their point different of -21 is much more representative of a seven-win team.
And best of all - the identity Smith is trying to build became clear. Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor described the Falcons' offense as "the Atlanta system," a nod to the unique "blend" of styles Smith incorporates that is now "really finely tuned" and resulted in the league's No. 3 rushing attack.
Atlanta's previous regime tried to build the brand of physicality, but there were little remnants of that by the time Smith took over. Two years later, it's back - and between the assets brought in via the draft and free agency, this year's Falcons team is the only the tip of the iceberg for the "identity" Smith and Fontenot are building.
"This year, to add to the rookie class from a year ago, add another group," Smith started. "Got some guys that weren't at the end of their careers that are on one-year deals that (I've) been pretty pleased with; we'll continue to evaluate that. You could feel a little more of a foundation and an identity, especially up front. There's a physicality and a brand."
Smith singled out the offensive line as a particularly strong area, stating that he could run the ball almost whenever he wanted to - a staple of his offenses with the Tennessee Titans and part of why owner Arthur Blank hired him in Atlanta.
So, there's progress ... but why can 2023 be different?
The Falcons made it a force of habit at the end of Dan Quinn's era to start slow and finish in a flurry, most notably buying Quinn an extra year after starting 1-7 in 2019 before going 6-2 in the final eight games.
This idea of momentum carrying over became prominent - but the Falcons still had no playoff berths to show for strong finishes. Part of the issue was that Atlanta essentially ran back teams centered around the same veteran pieces, hoping coordinator changes or a singular splash free agent signing could move the needle ... but it never did.
That's where 2023 presents a series of difference.
Against Tampa Bay, the Falcons watched as running back Tyler Allgeier set the franchise's rookie rushing record with 1,035 yards and receiver Drake London broke the rookie receptions record with 72 catches.
The player responsible for handing off to Allgeier and throwing to London was rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder, who went 19 of 30 for 224 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, taking over the game in the second half.
Defensively, Atlanta was led by second-year safety Richie Grant, who had a team-high seven tackles in addition to a forced fumble, which he also recovered. Grant was one of the players who spent 2021 learning from veterans - namely Erik Harris and Duron Harmon - and has emerged better off for it, playing all but three total defensive snaps this season.
These are just four players - four examples - of why there's hope in the future. Atlanta's young team grew up while the team fell off down the stretch, dropping from NFC South leaders at the halfway point to losers of six out of seven games.
But lost in these defeats was the learning experience of playing pressure football, the same thing present in 2021 but to a lesser extent, as many on the roster were veterans who'd been through it before.
There's reason to believe that these young pieces can continue ascending, and considering they were hand-picked by Smith and Fontenot, naturally embody the physical brand that's being implemented.
Of course, there's also the element that the Falcons are expected to have nearly $80 million in cap space this offseason, some of which will go to signing the draft class and extending right guard Chris Lindstrom, but it sets up an opportunity to proven NFL difference makers - a far cry from signing veterans at the end of their careers simply because the team needed to fill out its roster.
But regardless of who the Falcons add, it's important to know what they'll be walking into - which is a culture that's quickly being built exactly how Smith and Fontenot intended.
"(Monday) will be sad, knowing that this team has given us everything," Smith said. "The way they've come in, day in, day out, it started in the spring. The habits they brought every day. You talk about foundation and culture and what it means to be a Falcon, you talk about our Ethos."
Monday is locker cleanout day, the last time many faces will see each other until voluntary practices in April, while for others, it could be the last time they step foot inside the Falcons' facility.
But no matter if it's a rookie star like London or impending free agent such as KhaDarel Hodge, every player who suited up for the Falcons helped build this "foundation and culture" that makes Smith so confident about the future.
The task that Smith and Fontenot took on - getting out of cap struggles, fielding a competitive team and trying to build a foundation - has finally reached the point where it's time to be aggressive and tack on to an already strong core of young players.
It's a key reason why Smith has said time and again that he's "excited" for the offseason, even if it's likely the make-or-break point of his tenure as Atlanta's coach.
As such, all eyes in Flowery Branch are focused forward - but Smith would be remiss if he didn't note the positive aspects of how the Falcons finished.
"Obviously, we'd love to still be playing; we're not, but there's a lot of good things that happened," Smith said. "We wanted to finish this season strong; it's important to win every time you go out there, and our guys did that the last two weeks. There's a lot of bright spots to finish the season."
And perhaps this is the biggest takeaway from 2022 - amidst quarterback drama, heartbreaking losses and the inability to get over .500, the Falcons adopted a brand of football that showed up every single week ... which might just be the biggest "bright spot" of them all.
Now, the challenge becomes getting over the proverbial hump - and with one of the league's youngest teams only getting more experience in addition to having the second-most cap space to spend this offseason, the idea of a brighter future is as attainable as it's been.
And that, by all accounts, is reason for optimism entering 2023.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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