Arthur Blank believes this team can contend this year. Rich McKay believes it. Terry Fontenot believes it. Arthur Smith believes it. Perhaps they’re drinking from the fountain of wishful thinking. Perhaps they’re savvier about this team’s fortunes than we are from the comfort of our couches. Perhaps they’re putting a brave face on a potentially tough year. We’ll know soon enough.
The uncertainty for the Falcons fanbase is all-encompassing, and as kickoff against the Eagles looms, it’s reasonable to feel that familiar buzz of anxiety underneath everything we talk about. Atlanta is coming off three losing campaigns and bottomed out spectacularly last season in a supposedly win-now year where they started 0-5 and finished 4-12, so a mediocre season would not shock most of us.