After a dismal 2013 season, the Atlanta Falcons believe they have the pieces in place to have a high-scoring offense that can compete once again in the NFC South and bring them back to the championship game. That was the plan last season as well until almost all of those offensive pieces got injured and missed several games causing the Falcons to have a steep fall from grace. However, 2014 is a new year and everyone is healthy and confident entering Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints.
The biggest offseason moves for the Falcons was not drafting Jake Matthews, but getting Julio Jones, Roddy White and Steven Jackson back and healthy. Those three were supposed to carry the offense last year along with now-retired Tony Gonzalez. However, that plan failed. Jackson missed a lengthy part of the season with various injuries. White was out for numerous games with a high-ankle sprain and hamstring issues. Jones went out mid-way through the year with a foot injury and did not return. However, not one of those names is back on the injury report. Expectations are high once again after the team added Devin Hester to pair with last year's breakout star, Harry Douglas.
"The Saints know us, and they know I'm the guy to kind of get our offense going. And they key on me moreso - it was me, Tony [Gonzalez], and Roddy [White]. But they really haven't seen too much on Devin [Hester]. I hope that helps. I hope they've seen that they have to [defend him], because he can make plays. He'll make a bunch of plays for us. Also, Harry [Douglas]," Jones said, via ESPN.com." We don't know what to expect, but we know going into this game, I'll probably get doubled the most; probably me and Roddy. And those other guys will get singled up, or the back will get singled up."
Quarterback Matt Ryan will have plenty of weapons to spread the ball around to. Getting Jones back into the offense certainly draws the defense away from the other receivers. After his breakout season last year, Douglas looks to maintain momentum while White notes that this offense is built to succeed and defenses will have a hard time stopping them.
"I think last year was perfectly fine when we had to go to New Orleans right off the bat," White said, via the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It kind of speeds up the tempo and everything at practice. Everybody is locked in. Everybody is geared in. You need that kind of focus during Week 1. We've kind of had those (opening) games where we played Kansas City and stuff like that. We kind of just got into groove as the week of practice went on. Since we've known we are playing the Saints, everything has been zoom focused. Everybody has been on time, doing what they need to do, getting in their work and preparing themselves for this game. I think that was really good."