10 for '10: Ten Reasons for Falcons Fans to Eagerly Anticipate 2010

1. Quarterbacks get better. Two quarterbacks played in this year's Super Bowl. Look again at the stats from their first two seasons: Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.

Matt Ryan, at ages 23 and 24, was significantly better than Brees in particular was at those ages. People like to forget this because it adds an inconvenient note to the Drew Brees legend, but San Diego didn't draft Phillip Rivers because Brees had that famous shoulder injury; Brees didn't injure his shoulder until a year and a half after the Chargers drafted Rivers. San Diego drafted Rivers because they didn't think Brees would ever be a franchise quarterback, and I don't recall any NFL talking heads saying otherwise.

There's no reason to assume Ryan will be as good as Brees is now. But there's also no reason to pitch tantrums like Eagles fans every time our 24-year-old quarterback makes a bad play. See the big picture.

2. The Atlanta Falcons defense: Can't get no worse. Getting better all the time. You wouldn't know it if your only info source was talk radio, but our defense improved from 2008 to 2009. All we heard all offseason was how Smarty Smart Dimitroff had outgrown his breeches and cocked up our whole aura by ditching Lawyer Milloy, Keith Brooking, Dominique Foxworth, and like seventeen other old men. (DISCLOSURE: I admit I voiced discomfort about losing Foxworth.) So what happened?

• Lawyer Milloy started one game for the Seahawks. His replacement, sophomore Thomas DeCoud, may have been our best defender.
  
• Keith Brooking found new life but spent it on-carrying and committing sundry douchery. Let me ask: are you happy or sad that he wasn't wearing a Falcons jersey while he did this? His replacement, Mike Peterson, played Good Enough Ball and didn't embarrass his entire hemisphere.
  
• From the Baltimore Sun: "During the offseason, the Ravens signed Foxworth to a four-year contract worth $16.5 million in guaranteed money... It might be time to ask for a refund or a rebate." His replacement, a slapdash jury-rigged Bad Company ramshackle, grew up as the year went along and yielded two keepers in Chris Owens and Brent Grimes. Also, I like Brian Williams and wonder why some of you wonder about him.
  

Our defense will be noticeably better next year. The Colts proved that a fast front seven can compensate for a battered secondary; we did pretty dadblamed well against the run, allowing only one 100-yard rusher all season, but need to get much faster at OLB. Grimes, DeCoud, and Owens are turning into ballhawksfalcons, and the Saints proved that forcing turnovers is more important than withholding yardage.

Bonus lesson: TD was right, right, and right. (NOTE: This is good for the future.)

3. We basically get two drafts this year. Whatever you thought of our 2009 campaign, remember that we did it without our top two draft picks, both of whom were projected to start sooner or later. Think of it this way: the 2010 draft hasn't happened yet and we already have new participants at DT and SS. PLUS our picks this year. There's such gnashing of beaks in Falhalla about our lack of a 2nd round pick, but remember that GMTD expects us to gain 3rd, 4th, and 5th round compensatory picks.

Counting Peria Jerry and William Moore, this is a grand total of nine draft picks, people. Do you think we can add a pass rusher, plus depth to our defense, offensive line, and offensive weaponry with nine draft picks? Especially considering 15 of GMTD's 18 draft picks are still on the team? This means...

4. We'll finally have the depth to obscure The P*trino Era's awful, awful draft class. The Arkansas Bust Bros, Jamaal Anderson (picked ahead of Patrick Willis and Darrelle Revis, possibly the league's two best defenders) and Chris Houston (picked ahead of Lamarr Woodley and Sidney Rice), will likely never start another game as Atlanta Falcons. Drink it in. They may not play much at all, with Houston already a distant fourth at best on the CB depth chart and John Abraham, Lawrence Sidbury, Kroy Biermann, and a possible first-round pick piling up at DE. Drink it in.

The other two remainders, Stephen Nicholas and Jason Snelling, have played heroically, but it would be ideal if they didn't have to start either. Snellshock is a great utility infielder, but God help us all if he ever lines up at wildcat again.

5. We're getting a new kicker. After wide rights and lefts contributed very heavily to three crucial conference losses, the brass is literally spanning the globe to find us a qualified legman.

6. Free agency: NBD. Tyson Clabo and Harvey Dahl are the only mission-critical unrestricted free agents. Salary cap or not, we have more room to breathe as Mike Vick's $7.1 million comes off the books*. Reflect on our current salaries; we could sign 8.2 Curtis Loftons* for $7.1 million.

*: We're officially rid of the fingerprints of Mike Vick and Bobby P*trino in the same year? Are there any Eugene Robinson remnants we can throw in the bonfire?

**: As a sneak peek, here's what a mere two Curtis Loftons looks like.

7. In two years, Mike Smith has fought more opposing players (TWO) than he has lost games that we were supposed to win (ONE). In 2008, Denver topped us at home as Roddy dropped a game-winning touchdown.* Other than that, our losses have been (A) nine tough road games and (B) two games against eventual playoff teams in which we were missing our starting quarterback.** (We've also lost only one game by more than two scores. In two years!)

Good teams don't lose to bad teams, and the current Falcons vintage doesn't lose to bad teams. Good teams don't lose at home, and we've only lost one in which we were at half-strength or more. Obviously, we need to supplement this by stealing more road wins and beating good teams, which we've done a little bit of.

*: Also, we were two Michael Jenkins non-drops away from 11-5 this year.

**: Yeah, we were also favored by 1 or 2 points at Carolina this year and at Arizona last year. But remember that Vegas posts lines to drive up bets, not to predict wins.

8. The 2010 schedule. That thing about winning more road games? Our out-of-conference road schedule features Cleveland and St. Louis, possibly this year's two worst teams, and a rookie-coached Seattle. The two trips to Pennsylvania will be throwdowns, but three out of five is very doable, with four wins in reach.

The Dome is also eminently defendable, with Baltimore, Cincy, Green Bay, Arizona, and San Fran coming to town. "Th th that's four playoff teams!" Yeah, sure, but did you see their playoff games? And remember the way the NFL works... two of these teams will be crappy next year anyway. Three out of five at absolute worst here.

Six to eight wins, so long as the wheels remain affixed. Thus, the key, as always, is beating up our younger brothers in Tampa Bay, Carolina, and New Orleans. Carolina and Tampa will be back next year. Can we at least split our division games?

9. We took the World Champs to the limit twice. Once in their house (and if Jason Elam hadn't missed a chip shot field goal OR Jonathan Vilma hadn't leapt ten stories OR Ryan's pick-six before halftime had been nullified by blatant pass interference OR Stephen Nicholas hadn't been falsely whistled for interference on Reggie Bush, we would've won) and once with our backup quarterback.

It's difficult for any team to repeat as division champions, let alone one that's certain to lose key players. And maybe you're a member of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade... if so, you'd be inclined to think the Saints' "goodwill" has been fulfilled and refs will start calling it down the middle now that the NFL fixed Katrina. If you made a comment like this around me, I would not call you paranoid, bitter, or a hater, as you are certainly entitled to your observations.

I don't want to imply that playing the Saints tough was the highlight of our season or anything, but it's undeniable that we were only a few steps behind them all year long. Unless you're the kind of idiot that can't think past a W-L column when evaluating football teams. Obviously, the highlight of our season was...

10. Back-to-back winning seasons. We're a grown-up sports team now. Barring some sort of disaster, the train will keep rolling. And it's gonna take a Grade A Disaster... after our 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009 seasons, what more can they throw at us?

Say it with me: in 2010, the South is ours.