With the 2012 season on the horizon and the ghosts of past playoff appearances fresh in their minds, the Atlanta Falcons could be on the verge of their most successful season in recent memory.
The Falcons drafted Julio Jones last year to bring another weapon to help Matt Ryan and Roddy White and the rest of the cast on offense, but the lack of an offseason led to the offense being ineffective at times. “It was kind of difficult because we didn’t have any rhythm to the offense” said White.
With a new coordinator in Dirk Koetter and nearly a full offseason under their belts, the Falcons are looking forward to implementing Thomas Dimitroff’s master plan.
Ryan and White were dangerous in 2010 on their own. Add Jones to the mix and that should give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares. Fortunately, Jones decided to give some advice.
“You know what I would do? Just pack up my stuff and go home,” said Jones, jokingly, to Yahoo! Sports. “I mean, who are you gonna double? Tony? Roddy? Me? That’s six people. What are you gonna do?”
Koetter was brought in to take full advantage of the strengths the Falcons’ offense has.
“He’s not gun-shy whatsoever.” says White. ”He will have no bullets left in the chamber at the end of the game, I can tell you that. He has so much confidence in all of us as playmakers. He just dials ‘em up and he expects us to make plays.”
Koetter has all the tools at his disposal to make the Falcons offense one of the top offenses in the league and the combination of Jones and White is essential to doing so.
“I think they both have a chance to have big seasons,” says Ryan. “That’s the goal, to become an offense that makes people scratch their head, because they don’t know how to defend us. I think we’re capable of being that kind of team.”
The Falcons are at a turning point in the franchise’s history. They have been fortunate to have top-tier talent at the majority of key positions. After knocking on the door for the last four years, the Falcons’ offense is poised to finally kick the door down.
