How many games will the Falsons win this season ?

[coachx]

[TroyMcClure]

There are a lot of possibilities. All I know is we had the worst coach I've ever seen. He made Woody look somewhat competent. Without him, the sky is the limit. We won 4 with him. This team isn't as bad as some think. Bu we do still have Keith Brooking, AKA the softest LB ever, extending drives. So, my sky is 6 for this year.

[Deeman]

I am really not a Falcolns fan but I say 4 wins at best. I miss the Vick, Dunn, and Crumpler days.

[frosgrim]

I think 4 is a good bet, but no less than 3. The team has a lot of holes, but they are getting younger and there is talent at some key positions:

QB (hopefully)

RB (probably the best position on the team)

DE (Abe when healthy is a best, Jam98 has to use his speed and I think with Coach Smith he'll learn proper technique)

LB Lots of young talent here, Brooking being allowed to go side to side is better than letting him try to plug the middle

CB Very young but could be very good in a couple of years

WR White, Robinson are a nice starting duo, the kid they got in the 3rd sounds like he could be a great pickup. I can't stand Jenkins though (waste of a 1st round pick)

All in all, they are just too young and too thin on the lines to be that good this year.

[LOL_Hawks]

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All in all, they are just too young and too thin on the lines to be that good this year.

That's what's gonna kill the Falcons this year, especially the line. Hell, the line has been the main reason why the offense has sucked, even when Vick played. Vick got most of his yards running for his life because the line didn't block, not by design. Him being incarcerated and having terrible QBs back there only compounded the problem, and FINALLY brought that problem to light, instead of blaming it on everybody but them. But the line is still too thin to compete this year.

The rest of the team is young. I like that they're basically starting from scratch again. This is the NFL, if you make the right moves and do the right things from scratch, you'll be competing in no time. The Texans would've been a playoff team last year if they were in any division but the AFC South, so IMO, that's an example of a franchise that's making the right moves right now. So all the Falcons have to do is keep on making the right moves, stick to their guns, and develop the team around the RBs (Turner & Norwood are going to be the bright spot on this team this year for sure.) and they'll be contenders in a couple of years. Not this year though. As a Falcon fan, I'm prepared for a pretty rough season this year. But instead of last year just being controversy riddled, this year we'll get to see the new (competent) coach get his bearings, the young guys take their lumps, and learn at the same time. It's gonna be fun watchin these guys develop over the next couple of years.

That said, 5 games is my prediction. 7 wins would be wishful thinking.

[Gray Mule]

Falcons will be better than some pesimestic fans believe. They won't be great. They

can't expect to win everything this season.

Two things to remember. We believe we have a better coach this season. He may

fool us and be a complete flop. Not likely to happen. Too much NFL experience to believe

that this will happen, although he has never been a head coach.

How many games did Atlanta win last season? Four, I believe. With all that went wrong

last season, we should win more this season. We should be much better prepared with

the players we have this time around. Remember, somehow the NFL arranges their

schedule so that the teams with the worst record in the previous season will not have

as tough a schedule as the top teams.

Our final roster is not set - not yet. This could change some things. We'll just

have to wait and see on this. Doubling last season'r win total may be a litle too

high, but not much - Let's say seven.

[DrReality]

That's a tough one. I'd be happy with five wins???? Hope for better. If the O line can get it together by mid season and we get our running game going . . . . that will help our new QB get his feet on the ground. That may be our best hope.

[EazyRoc]

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Falcons will be better than some pesimestic fans believe. They won't be great. They

can't expect to win everything this season.

Two things to remember. We believe we have a better coach this season. He may

fool us and be a complete flop. Not likely to happen. Too much NFL experience to believe

that this will happen, although he has never been a head coach.

How many games did Atlanta win last season? Four, I believe. With all that went wrong

last season, we should win more this season. We should be much better prepared with

the players we have this time around. Remember, somehow the NFL arranges their

schedule so that the teams with the worst record in the previous season will not have

as tough a schedule as the top teams.

Our final roster is not set - not yet. This could change some things. We'll just

have to wait and see on this. Doubling last season'r win total may be a litle too

high, but not much - Let's say seven.

It's not unreasonable for us to win atleast 6 games this year. In terms of actual talent, our team has not declined from last year. Crumpler, Dunn, Hall, and Coleman were all pretty bad last year. I believe our offense will be better than last year, and our defense will be about the same if not better. Not to mention we play in the worst division in the entire NFL. I'm going to make a bold, homer prediction and say we squeak into the playoffs with 8 wins.

[Plainview1981]

2 or 3.

[frosgrim]

I disagree about Vick and his running yards. Many of the "passing" plays called for Vick were options plays. Vick was way too quick to abadon the pass in favor of the run.

I do agree that the lines during the Mora era wore bad at pass protection. They couldn't account for those jail-house blitzes. But many teams handle those big blitzes by just running a slant. Vick, unfortunately, couldn't throw a slant route to save his life. He had no touch and couldn't see the play due to his size.

In all those o-lines under Mora plus Vick's short comings in the passing game made for a horrible matchup. Biggest mistake made during the Vick era was letting Mora hire that offensive coaching staff. Vick would have worked much better under a power-I philosophy with the verticle passing game. The line also should have been huge to give Vick some passing lines of sight. Vick also should have studied the game more to improve his decission making. Of course better WR would have helped too.

[mattlanta]

The Falcons can go either way (really bad or just bad), but I don't think we'll be having a winning season this year. We can range from winning just three games or up to even seven games. Keep in mind, guys, that there's a streak in the NFC South for a couple of years now that the last team in the division the year before ends up being first the year after. To be honest with you, I don't really care how many wins we have. The most important thing for me is to develop our young players and keep doing just that. Don't forget we're rebuilding, and we can't expect to be good in just one or two years.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

I think the oline's going to be much improved this season.. those two first round talent LT and G they drafted is going to fill some holes up front. The receivers also improved with Robinson and the new kid. Vick would have his best years with these offensive weapons.

[mattlanta]

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I think the oline's going to be much improved this season.. those two first round talent LT and G they drafted is going to fill some holes up front. The receivers also improved with Robinson and the new kid. Vick would have his best years with these offensive weapons.

I don't doubt that our offensive line will be better than it was last year because last year, Atlanta suffered many injuries in their OL lineup. More importantly, both of our left tackles were injured. We never gave Datish time to develop because we simply couldn't because of the injury he gave us. Forney had his usual toe problems. I could go on and on...

I can't say that if you compare our offensive linemen from last year's, we're a lot better. We're sure a lot younger, but what will be important throughout the season is 1) Will these young offensive linemen develop? and 2) Will they stay healthy enough to do so. I'm a little skeptical of Baker. I ranked him as the most overrated left tackle in my book, so I'm not going to say I'm really comfortable with him being our starting left tackle. Besides, it's not like we will just let him start. He's going to be competing with Ojinakka for sure. But you said, ".. those two first round talent LT and G they drafted..." I don't believe we drafted a guard.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

I meant they got 2 first round talents on the O-line this upcoming season. I'm used to seeing 5-6th rounders on the o-line protecting Vick. Probably why the o-line wasn't that good in pass protection.

[coachx]

The O-Line has an interesting mix. Could it go from weakness to strength in one season ? If it does you got to hand it to the coaching. We know Coach Smith favors a smash mouth style over the zone blocking and the personell is starting to reflect just that.

Left side of O Line:

Baker (#21 pick in 08) and Blaylock (2nd round pick in 07) are young but very intrigueing. Blaylock is a beast at about 325 lbs and Baker is 310 himself. Hopefully they can actually back D-lineman off the line of scrimmage for a succesful power running game (which we brought Turner here for).

Center:

McClure is a solid but undersized center. He may not fit the smash mouth scheme but his expierence and leadership are extremely valuable to the "newbies" to his left.

Right side of O-Line

Here we have 2 veterans, with solid careers, trying bounce back from a dissapointing and injury plagued 07 season in Forney (RG) and Weiner (RT). Rumor has it Forney is now allowed to beef back up to his more natural playing weight of 305 lbs under the new coaches which hopefully helps him. Tyson Clabo is known as a nasty and high energy "super sub" who can play multiple positions. I look for him to win one of the 2 starting positions on the right side. Weiner is not yet ready to practice after surgery.

What could be more important to the success of the Falcons. Their 2 biggest off season additions (Ryan at QB and Turner at RB) will flop if the O-line flops. If the O-line exceeds expectations then so will Ryan, Turner, and the rest of the offense.