Road to Super Bowl LI: Rise Up
You never really know how far you have to climb until you hit rock bottom. From there you can assess the situation and develop a plan on how to get back to the top. The Atlanta Falcons know the story well. In fact they lived it. Just over a decade ago, they knocked on the door of a Super Bowl and they had a superstar player that fans thought was destined to bring them to unseen heights. And just like that, it was gone. The story of the Falcons road to the Super Bowl begins at the bottom and blossomed from that new beginning.
Now as you probably guessed, the team I speak of from over a decade ago are the Falcons led by Michael Vick. We all know the story about the dog fighting arrest and their new coach leaving the organization in the middle of the night the following season. Imagine that for a second. Your team’s franchise player is incarcerated and your coach cut and ran at the first opportunity. This is what rock bottom looks like and this is what Matt Ryan had to inherit as the second overall pick in the third pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Fortunately, the then rookie quarterback was a quick learner. The Falcons were playoff bound in 2008 and the future looked bright.
After suffering a setback in 2009, the Falcons returned to the playoffs with the NFC’s top record in 2010. The results were the same as 2008. Atlanta was defeated by a red hot team that would eventually go all the way to the Super Bowl. Sensing they were close to an elusive Super Bowl berth, they traded up in the draft to select Julio Jones. While the Falcons did make the playoffs the following season, they were held to only two points in a loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. At this point, pressure began to mount. The Matt Ryan led Falcons were now 0-3 in the postseason despite being loaded on offense and having a respectable defense. The frustration even began to mount in the city of Atlanta. If you recall, Vick was now out of prison and had already led the Eagles to the playoffs. It seemed that no matter what Ryan did, the shadow of Vick and increased expectations loomed over him.
2012 looked promising with the Falcons capturing the top seed in the NFC for the second time in three seasons. After escaping Seattle in the divisional round, their dream for a Super Bowl came up short again when the Falcons game-winning drive stalled in the red zone against the 49ers. After that, the bottom fell out and it seemed Atlanta was headed back down to rock bottom. Despite still having a good offense, nothing the Falcons did ever seemed to be enough. The pieces never came together. The scrutiny of Ryan got to the point when even some members of the Falcons fanbase wanted him gone. Then along came a man named Dan Quinn.
Dan Quinn arrived from Seattle with a blueprint in hand for the future of the Falcons. The offense was never the problem, but the defense and the culture of the Falcons needed to be changed. They adopted the a brotherhood mentality and began to shape their defense in the mold of the former World Champion Seahawks. Ricado Allen has become a leader in the secondary, Keanu Neal became the enforcer, Vic Beasley has become a pass rushing savant and Deion Jones is the heart. Sounds familiar? When compared to the original blueprint (Seahawks), it’s almost deja vu. On the other side, Ryan has developed into a MVP caliber player and Jones is the best receiver in the league. Around them are the best running back combination in the league, a solid offensive line and an assortment of receiving options. And in only Quinn’s second season, it is clear what the Falcons have turned into.
Nearly a decade ago, this team crashed and burned. They suffered setbacks and they paid their dues. With only a few steps away from the top of the football world, Rise Up is more than a marketing slogan. It’s a story of perseverance and patience. A story of the Atlanta Falcons.
