via www.esasuccess.org

Let's start this off with a tip of my press fedora to JJ Cooper at AOL Fanhouse, who is hitting on something that is in everyone's prefrontal cortext this off-season. That's right, folks. I'm talking about the lack of back-to-back winning seasons.

The positions he tackles in his article are ones we've covered here before, but I'm very interested in discussing the comedy of errors that has been the history of our Atlanta Falcons. When you really think about it, the odds against a team pulling that off in 40+ years aren't all that good. I'm no mathematician, but I'd say they're apples to one. I'm fond of taunting my best friend about his beloved Buffalo Bills, but at least they made it to four Super Bowls in a row. We haven't even posted a 9-7 record in two consecutive seasons.

That said, I have a warm and fuzzy feeling about next season that isn't caused by the journalist-friendly IV drip of whiskey. It's the feeling that we're going to be able to pull it off because this is rapidly becoming a team that has the depth and frontline talent necessary to be a perennial contender. Could things go wrong? Yes, and they always have. Will they, though? For the first time in recent memory, my gut says they won't.

There's still free agents to sign, trades to consider and a draft to sort through, so this is a particularly weird time to be thinking about what the Falcons will be capable of next season. For me, though, the promise of better days ahead makes my black-and-red heart pump a little bit faster. If the Falcons make it to nine wins next season, this site is going to celebrate a little bit more than usual. Fans of other teams might call that a bit pathetic, but I'll call it what it really is.

Progress.