Because of their tenured offense and young, talented defense, Pro Football Talk gave the Falcons the No. 2 spot on PFT's preseason power rankings on Tuesday morning.
PFT's Darin Gantt wrote there's more to the Falcons this season than trying to abolish the 28-3 Super Bowl stigma.
While there are many positives surrounding the Falcons as they enter the 2017 football season, Gnatt wrote there are a few negatives the reigning NFC Champions must face to have another successful season.
The season’s biggest challenge for the Falcons is overcoming the loss of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to the San Francisco 49ers. The Falcons hired Steve Sarkisian in February to replace Shanahan at offensive coordinator.
“They were playing at such a high level last year that even a slight disruption is a big deal, and taking their play-caller out is definitely not just a slight disruption,” Gnatt wrote. “We’ll see if Steve Sarkisian can keep things going, because he was given the gift of personnel to work with.”
Gnapp wrote the best change the Falcons experienced over the offseason was the growing depth on defense. With the additions of defensive tackle Dontari Poe and pass rusher Takk McKinley, the Falcons defense which allowed a 19-point fourth-quarter in the Super Bowl has new, talented life.
"If McKinley emerges to help Vic Beasley (who looked like a bust after his rookie year, then looked like a star last year, perhaps the fault is with making premature judgments), they could be even better on that side of the ball,” Gnatt wrote.
Gnatt also wrote his opinion on how Mercedes-Benz Stadium will help the Falcons become more popular with fans and what the Falcons must do to prove the critics wrong in 2017 on PFT's website.
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