Our Falcoholic answers to all of your Falcons questions

It’s the first Saturday in a good long while with no football whatsoever. But we’ve all still got a lot of questions about this Falcons team.

We invited fans on Twitter to ask their questions, and here are the answers.

I don’t think that’s wrong at all. Honestly, if the Niners blew a 30-point lead, we could all shamelessly blame Kyle Shanahan for Super Bowl LI and also breathe a sigh of relief, because Niners fans would get all of the blown lead jokes for a while.

It had to be something along the lines of, “Hey, could y’all maybe stop acting like you don’t know how to play defense?” I think the bigger issue was switching up play calling responsibilities. Dividing that up between Morris and Jeff Ulbrich let both guys focus on maximizing players’ strengths and putting them in positions to succeed. Dan Quinn’s freedom to then focus more on the pass rush did seem to yield results after the bye, too.

I somehow missed any breaking news related to Mike Vrabel’s crotch, but I assure you I am not going to Google that phrase, so he won’t get any further media attention from me.

I wish Dirk Koetter had also had a mentor who encouraged him to not field such a predictable offense.

I predicted the Falcons would go 10-6 in 2019, so everyone may want to reconsider.

A rhetorical question, and we all know the answer.

The tricky thing here is that the Falcons could go in a million different directions. Right now, Spotrac projects the team to have about $10.7 million in available cap space. Hooper’s performance this season justifies a hefty payday, and the team still has other holes to fill with Vic Beasley, Adrian Clayborn, Jack Crawford, Kenjon Barner, Matt Bosher, and many more set to fit free agency. They also have to magically come up with the money to sign their draft class.

The Falcons already created some space by restructuring Matt Ryan and Grady Jarrett’s contracts. We could see some players walk (I think Beasley, Crawford, Campbell, and Bosher are potential candidates) and the team may have to part ways with some big names like Devonta Freeman and Alex Mack to make anything work financially. If it were up to me retaining Hooper would be a priority based on his steady development and his chemistry with Matt Ryan. I’d be fine with letting Campbell catch on somewhere else.

The last time the Packers were in the NFC Championship they lost to the Falcons following the 2016 season. I don’t think the Packers will lose to the Falcons Sunday, because they’re playing the 49ers.

Suffering builds character. Falcons fans have A LOT of character.

A valid and evergreen question, Adam. I wish I knew.

We saw flashes of competence in the second half of the season. I like the decision to retain the coaches on that side of the ball who helped them get there. I think that bodes well for next year.

I have not! The only thing I know about the uniforms is that the Falcons are getting new ones. That’s it. No inside info on that topic.

Michael Thomas just has a chip on his shoulder. It’s not unusual for highly competitive people, and I don’t particularly blame him. He’s a supremely talented receiver, and I loved watching him during his time at The Ohio State University. He can say whatever he wants — that talent hasn’t kept his team from blowing it hilariously in the postseason each of the past three seasons.

My hope is that the main difference will be that the Falcons will actually be good this year.

I could see the team moving on from Devonta Freeman for cap reasons, and if they do, I would expect them to target a running back. I’ve seen a few analysts suggest Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor as a solid fit, and I’d be happy with that move. Taylor was a beast for the Badgers, and he’s also brilliant. Before committing to Wisconsin, he was planning to study astronomy at Harvard. That has nothing to do with the Falcons, really — I just think it’s interesting.

You heard correctly. The team announced that earlier this week.

Heck yeah, they did.

I’d love to see them snag Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa. I think a high pick investment in the pass rush is warranted. What do I think they’ll actually do? I hate to even speculate, because last year there’s zero chance I could have guessed they’d go for Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary in the first round. I hope they re-sign Barner, Clayborn, Neal, and Hooper. The cap space situation might make even those signings very difficult.

You would not want me to. Let’s leave that one to the experts so the uniforms don’t look stupid.

I’d honestly like to see the team forge ahead with Kurt Benkert as the primary backup. I don’t think investing a second-round pick into Jacob Fromm when there’s already a quarterback on the roster they’ve been developing is the best course of action when there are so many needs and so little money to work with this offseason.

Who knows, man. Some men just want to watch the world burn, I suppose.

Neither, really. 28-3 is mostly just annoying because Saints fans’ jokes about it aren’t funnier than ours. Cheering for other teams to beat the Saints and watching it happen three consecutive times in the postseason is actually fun as hell, thank you for asking.

Perhaps I should have clarified that I’m not psychic, so I truly don’t know.

This is purely my opinion, but I suspect it’s just a lot to balance head coaching responsibilities with defensive play calling. Morris was the Falcons wide receivers coach, yes, but previously he’d spent time in various defensive roles and as a head coach. I think that Morris and Ulbrich’s ability to put players in positions to succeed was a huge factor in the improved play.

Life ebbs and flows and often surprises us. Look at the Titans! After years of mostly mediocrity, they’re poised for a shot at the Super Bowl this season. It’s hard to count them out, because we all saw what they did to the Patriots and the Ravens — arguably the strongest team in the league this season. The Falcons have plenty of talent. If they play up to that potential, joy may be on the horizon.