By John Sarianides

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn claims he and his team have moved on from their crushing loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Well, that assessment will be put to the test this season.

Quinn and his team have to prove to the rest of the football world that they have indeed moved on from their unprecedented collapse in February.  It is a new season and an opportunity for redemption for the 2017 Falcons.

On paper, Atlanta is better than they were last season. Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones return to form the nucleus of a talented offense led by first year offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Sark as he is known will implement his west coast offense but there will be elements from Kyle Shanahan’s offense still in place. 

Defensively, the Falcons get cornerback Desmond Trufant back and they added hulking defensive tackle Dontari Poe and rookie pass rusher Tak McKinley to a unit that already has Vic Beasley and Deion Jones. Atlanta has the potential to finish in the top ten defensively. The talent is in place. 

Here are three keys for the 2017 Falcons.

1. No Hangover: Last season, the division rival Panthers experienced the Super Bowl hangover finishing 6-10. The Falcons have to avoid it. They have the talent to and they are motivated to prove that the Super Bowl collapse was a fluke. 

2. Can’t Skip a Beat Offensively: As I mentioned, Sark will implement his system but the Falcons philosophy on offense needs to stay the same. Look for Sark to blend concepts of the west coast offense with Shanahan’s multiple offense. 

3. Defense Needs to Finish: The defense took most of the blame for the team’s collapse in Super Bowl LI. Fair or unfair, they need to prove that they can finish. New defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel has been preaching “Finish” in training camp. This defense cannot “run out of gas” again. They need to be elite in 2017. 

In the End: The Falcons are better than they were last season in my opinion. They can certainly top their 11-5 record and make another deep playoff run. They have plenty of motivation. It also helps that some are writing them off which I think is a mistake.