Atlanta Falcons Season Recap

NFC South	Finished 1st in Division Beat Seattle in Divisional Round Beat Green Bay in NFC Championship Lost to New England in Super Bowl
Overall Record: 11-5 (5-1 in the division)	Draft Position: 31st
Head Coach: Dan Quinn	GM: Thomas Dimitroff

Pro Bowlers

• LB Vic Beasley
• K Matt Bryant
• RB Devonta Freeman
• WR Julio Jones
• C Alex Mack
• QB Matt Ryan

2016 Rankings

	Yards/Game	Points/Game	Passing Yards/Game	Rushing Yards/Game
Offense	2nd	1st	3rd	5th	TDs – 1st
Defense	25th	27th	28th	17th	Sacks – T-16th	INTs – T-18th

Top Passers

Name	Games Started	CMP. PCT.	Yards	TDs	INTs	Passer Rating	QBR
Matt Ryan	16	69.9	4,944	38	7	117.1	83.3

Top Rushers

Name	Rushing Yards	Y/A	TDs
Devonta Freeman	1,079	4.8	11
Tevin Coleman	520	4.4	8

Top Pass Catchers

Name	Receptions	Yards	Y/C	TDs
Julio Jones	83	1,409	17.0	6
Mohamed Sanu	59	653	11.1	4

Top Defensive Players

• LB Deion Jones - 108 total tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 INTs, 1 forced fumble
• S Keanu Neal - 106 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 5 forced fumbles
• LB Vic Beasley - 39 total tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles

Impending Free Agents

• DT Jonathan Babineaux
• QB Matt Schaub
• ILB Paul Worrilow
• G Chris Chester
• TE Jacob Tamme
• ILB Sean Weatherspoon
• OLB Courtney Upshaw
• WR Eric Weems
• OLB Dwight Freeney
• OLB Philip Wheeler
• FS Dashon Goldson
• G Tom Compton
• FB Patrick DiMarco
• ILB LaRoy Reynolds
• WR Aldrick Robinson
• CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson
• TE Levine Toilolo
• SS Kemal Ishmael

What I Said About Them Before the Season

• I was really off on the Falcons.  Like horribly off.  I projected them to go 7-9, a full game worse than their record in 2015 despite all indications showing that they had improved their roster. Despite my low prediction for their record, I was still impressed and excited by their roster and wrote that Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones were stellar weapons.  I also thought that Matt Ryan was a really good quarterback that needed to reduce the number of interceptions he threw last season.  I was big on the offseason additions of center Alex Mack and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu and thought that both could go a long way to making the offense more well-rounded.

Success/Failure

• Success - The Falcons made it to the Super Bowl, and probably should have won it, in a season that most people probably projected them as possibly getting the NFC championship game at best.  Their offense came together perfectly as Matt Ryan broke into the elite tier of quarterbacks, winning league MVP along the way, running back Devonta Freeman rushed for over 1,000 yards, and Julio Jones cemented his status as one of the best wideouts in the league. Their offensive was the number one ranked scoring offense in the league and make up for any deficiencies the defense exhibited.  

Offseason Needs

• If the Falcons want to have a repeat performance of 2016 they will need to address the problems they had on defense.  Their biggest issue is in the secondary which was young this season and gave up a lot of yards.  They also need to add another piece for their pass rush which was very good this season but could use an edge guy opposite of Vic Beasley.  Having two guys like Beasley would make defending against it nearly impossible.  Both CBS Sports and NFL.com have Atlanta drafting defensive ends - either Missouri's Charles Harris or UCLA's Takkarist McKinley.

*All stats and information come from espn.com, nfl.com, pro-football-reference.com, rosterresource.com, spotrac.com, overthecap.com, foxsports.com, and cbssports.com