Falcoholinks: All the Falcons news you need for Wednesday, Sept. 22

It’s a Wednesday, which means we have links (like every Wednesday).

Is it the end?

Over the past 30 years, only about 12% of the teams who started their seasons 0-2 made the playoffs. The Falcons? Yep, 0-2.

Even with an expanded playoff format last year, there was not one 0-2 team in the mix. So that begs the question: Is an 0-2 start a death knell for the Atlanta Falcons, even with an additional game on the schedule?

What we learned

Five things, exactly. The Falcons showed they are completely capable of putting together solid football — on both sides of the ball — for a full quarter. Harnessing their talent on a consistent level will be one of the top challenges for this new regime.

Veteran punter Dustin Colquitt added to the PS

Falcons kicker Cameron Nizialek had an abjectly awful day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it had been reported that the Falcons were bringing in some punters for tryouts this week.

They made their first real move yesterday, adding veteran Dustin Colquitt to the practice squad. In a corresponding move, the team released offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann.

Don’t count ‘em out

Regardless of the conversation about Matt Ryan’s future as a quarterback, he showed on Sunday that he is up to the challenge. Yes, he made a couple of costly goofs, he also provided the team something to build on this Sunday against the Giants.

Sunday: A retrospective

Sunday’s loss against the Bucs was not unexpected. We all pretty much expected it — but it was the way in which it happened that’s frustrating. After a couple of days, we were able to put our thoughts together after dropping to 0-2, and believe it or not, it’s not all bad!

There was some clear improvement in this one, and for the Falcons it’s all about consistently executing at the level they did in the third quarter against Tampa.

Rookie tight end Kyle Pitts saw his volume increase in this one, and he rewarded that decision as Atlanta’s leading receiver with five catches for 73 yards.

The Falcoholic Podcast

DW and Evan Birchfield discussed the loss against the Bucs on this week’s Falcoholic Postgame Podcast. Give ‘er a listen right here.