Taking lessons from grueling, hard-fought wins can be difficult. When both teams are clearly flawed and struggle to execute in critical areas, it becomes difficult to be overly optimistic because they have glaring limitations. Opening weekend games are always tricky to assess due to the lack of reps in the preseason and how much fortunes can change in the regular season.
Coming out of the Falcons’ first opening-day victory since 2017, there is one true certainty about how they will operate this season. They are going to run the ball and force defenses to handle their physicality and complexity for all four quarters.