Speak it into existence! That is how the Falcons are approaching this season. Atlanta’s new regime has been steadfast in its approach to building the roster, acquiring players with the “right” makeup who believe they can win immediately.
Wednesday began the first day of training camp, and the team has no shortage of confidence when it comes to their playoff hopes. Olamide Zaccheaus was the first to say the team will make the postseason earlier in the offseason, which he doubled-down on Wednesday.
“I feel like we’re a playoff team,” Zaccheaus said last month via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We just (have) to put everything together. Really start fast at the beginning of the season and not get into a hole. I just feel like as a team, we can shock a lot of people.”
Veteran Casey Hayward echoed similar sentiments, questioning why the Falcons couldn’t surprise people and compete following the Matt Ryan trade. And Kyle Pitts also thinks the team can make the postseason. The second-year phenom told members of the media that the team is capable of making it to the playoffs and “maybe even the Super Bowl.”
There’s clearly been a philosophy shift inside of Flowery Branch because every player and coach is sharing the same feelings about where this team is headed. The Falcons aren’t the most talented roster in the NFL, but sometimes the most talented team doesn’t always win. This league has so much parity that there really isn’t a significant difference between the bad teams and playoff contenders. New teams make the postseason every year in the NFL, and all it takes is one diamond of a draft class to change the direction of things.
Grady Jarrett summed that up perfectly after Thursday’s training camp practice, courtesy of our friend Miles Garrett (not that Myles Garrett).
Grady Jarrett speaks on why he thinks this #Falcons team is closer than people think. pic.twitter.com/DtWlkKKdbo
— Miles Garrett (@MilesGarrettTV) July 28, 2022
It’s encouraging to see the organization isn’t short on confidence. As Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot build a sustainable culture, more and more individuals will share the same thoughts as Zaccheaus, Hayward, Pitts, and Jarrett. They play this game to win, so why not protrude confidence — speak it into existence.
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Photographer: Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire
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