Atlanta Falcons – Local Chatter and the Countdown to Kickoff

brought in here coupled with the players he has around him.

That is music to ears of Atlanta fans, who have been teased the last couple of seasons with flashes of greatness, only to see them flutter in the playoffs. Last year's 24-2 loss the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants was particularly rough. But now there's renewed optimism, but as Dave Choate points out on thefalcoholics.com, the team is lacking solid backups.

The depth, however, remains a legitimate concern. The backups are simply going to have to play better, because there will be situations in the regular season where by injury or fatigue the reserves are going to come in. If they're getting scorched by third string wide receivers and quarterbacks, that's not just alarming. It's a friggin' klaxon going off three inches from our collective ears.

So Atlanta has to hope for an injury free year. That's rare and unlikely.

The Falcons kickoff the regular season Sept. 9th at Kansas City.