In 2008 the Falcons finished the season 11-5-0 to finish in second place in the NFC South division and winning a Wild Card berth. In the playoffs the Falcons lost to the Arizona Cardinals in the Wild Card Round 30-24.

Offense: Atlanta had one of the best offenses in the league last season and two players were directly responsible for that production. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan burst on to the scene throwing for 3,440 yards last season and leading the Falcons to the 14th best passing offense in the league. Michael Turner, who had been LaDainian Tomlinson's backup for four seasons, had 1,699 yards on the ground last season giving him the second most rushing yards in the NFL last year. Turner also had 17 rushing touchdowns last year, second to only DeAngelo Williams, while leading the Falcons to the second best rushing attack in the NFL. In a division that is dominated by offense the Falcons have the pieces to contend for a second consecutive playoff spot this year.

Defense: The Falcons defense is trying to rebuild on the fly this season. Five contributing players from last season are gone including five-time Pro Bowl linebacker Keith Brooking and safety Lawyer Milloy. Brooking and Milloy both had solid seasons for the Falcons, but the franchise needed to move on in an attempt to get younger. Atlanta used their first five draft picks on defensive players on the line and in the secondary. Veteran linebacker Mike Peterson was signed from the Jacksonville Jaguars and is expected to fill the hole of leader that was made by the release of Brooking both on and off the field. This defense was a bend-but-don’t-break type last year as they finished 24th in the league in yards allowed but managed to keep teams off the scoreboard as they ranked 11th in points allowed. The bend-don’t-break mentality is gone with the players released and Coach Mike Smith hopes the new blood will help carry the Falcons this season.

Star Power: Wide receiver Roddy White’s first two seasons in Atlanta were not very good as he totaled 952 yards and 59 receptions in two seasons. Then in 2007 he became a starter and exploded on the field for 1,200 yards and six touchdown receptions as one of the top two receivers. White followed up his breakout season with an even better one in 2008 with almost 1,400 yards receiving and seven touchdowns as he became rookie Matt Ryan’s favorite target. White has teamed with number two receiver Michael Jenkins to form one of the best young receiver tandems in the league. As for White, expect another career high in both yards and receptions this year as he continues to improve on his stats every season of his career.

Biggest Addition: People around the league always say that a pass catching tight end is a young quarterback’s best friend. So the Falcons went out this offseason and traded for one of the best in the history of the league, Tony Gonzalez. For his career Gonzalez four 1,000 yard receiving seasons and in 2007 and 2008 he recorded his first back-to-back seasons of 1,000 yards. Gonzalez averages almost 12 yards a reception for his career and two-thirds of his receptions in his career have been for first downs. He will instantly improve this offense giving Matt Ryan another weapon at his disposal.

Biggest Loss: Keith Brooking had played all 11 seasons in the NFL with the Falcons until his release earlier this offseason. Since the 2001 season, his third in the league, Brooking had played every game and recorded over 100 tackles in every season as a model of consistency at the linebacker position. At age 34 the Falcons think that his best football is behind him and instead signed Mike Peterson, who was drafted the same year as Brooking. Peterson’s stats are worse in comparison to Brooking and it appears that Peterson’s skills are starting to diminish. So why the Falcons needed to make this change is still a mystery, and only time will tell if it turns out to be the right move.

Biggest Game: On Sunday, January 3rd the Falcons travel to Tampa Bay to play their division rival in a Week 17 matchup. This game is important because this division is expected to be the tightest race in all of football. All four teams could be tied or within a game of each other heading into the final week of the season so this game is important not only to the Falcons, but to the other teams of the NFC South. Winning or losing this game for Atlanta could decide who wins the division and who misses the playoffs altogether.