A short time after his players finished their final practice, Falcons coach Dan Quinn stopped to reflect on the team’s offseason program and ponder the notion of whether the franchise did enough to catch the Carolina Panthers, three-time defending champs in the NFC South.
“It started way back,” Quinn told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There’s been a lot of work that’s gone into this process.”
The scouting combine, pre-draft visits and the draft seem light years ago. That was back when the Falcons wanted to add a center, a wide receiver and a tight end and get faster at linebacker and safety.
If the Falcons, who were 8-8 last season, are to improve in 2016, they must do it within the division. The Falcons were 1-5 against teams in the division last season, and 7-3 against the rest of the NFL, including a blown opportunity to beat San Francisco.
The only division victory came against Carolina in Game 15. Two of the defeats were by 10 points of more. The other three games were lost by three, four and three points.
If the Falcons had pulled out the close games, they would have been 11-5 and likely headed to the playoffs.
“(The division) is going to be the focus all the time,” Quinn said. “We feel like we have a good group here, and they’ve worked their tails off to put themselves in position to play really well. Now, is the good part, let’s go find out.”
Quinn, who’ll welcome the players to training camp July 27, knows those close losses were costly.
“That’s the reason why we didn’t get the chance to go up to Minnesota and play (in the playoffs),” Quinn said. “We’ve got to get our turnover margin right.”
Quinn has preached about the turnovers ad nauseum.
“If we get that part of our game right; we’ve got a lot of talented guys,” Quinn said. “It’s the talent matchup, but it’s way more than that. The player-led matchup. Coaching decisions. Is all of that coming together for our team right now?”
Quinn believes that the best professional teams are led by the players.
“All that is important, but probably the most important thing is the players,” Quinn said. “Let’s face it, the best teams are player-led in professional sports. We make calls for them, but it’s that pure accountability. Just when it gets really hard and they are the ones (to say) ‘I got this.’ That’s player-led.
“That player-led leadership, that’s where it’s at. I’ve been really pumped for the guys to see where they are trying to take it to.”
Wide receiver Julio Jones believes the offense achieved its offseason goals and will improve. Center Alex Mack, wide receiver Mohamed Sanu and rookie tight end Austin Hooper were the key additions.
“Just getting Sanu in really,” Jones said was key. “Just getting him up to speed. He’s going to be a big part of the offense for us.”
Last season’s internal turmoil has been well-documented about the direction of the offense. Jones believes that’s behind the team, too.
“Communication was very high on our board of what we needed to fix,” Jones said “It’s the thing now where I think we communicate about everything. We talk about everything amongst each other and the coaches as well.”
Falcons tight end Jacob Tamme said they are altering their approach to the division, while not mentioning the Panthers by name.
“I think it’s something that Coach Q said and we probably didn’t talk about it as much last year,” Tamme said “It really starts with the division. We play the same ball all the time, but having said that, it all starts in your division. Owning the division is something that’s got to be your goal every year.
“It’s got to be one of your goals every year. That’s something that’s definitely a goal of ours this year. It’s a challenge. It’s a great challenge for us, but we feel like we are up to it.”
On defense, the Falcons added tackle Derrick Shelby, linebackers Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell and safety Keanu Neal.
Free safety Ricardo Allen said the defense has made strides over the offseason.
“We are much more polished,” Allen said. “We have better communication. We know the defense inside and out now.”
Allen has been impressed with Neal, who was the controversial 17th pick in the draft.
“It’s so rare to find someone with so high caliber talent to be so willing to come in and just learn,” Allen said. “When he came in, it was like he cleaned his whole sheet. What he did in college didn’t matter anymore. He’s so willing to learn. He’s real cerebral and he catches on really fast.”
We’ll have to wait a few more months see if the Falcons have done enough to close the gap in the NFC South.
