Guessing Atlanta’s final record this year feels like a bit of a fool’s errand, not that it’ll dissuade us from trying. There are questions about how quickly the new coaching staff can create positive change, how good the offense can be, whether the defense can be even passable and the impact of losing Julio Jones, among a hundred other worthwhile things to ask. When a team goes through this much upheaval—and, it must be said, when a team has been bad and cap-strapped for a while—uncertainty lingers like mildew in a humid bathroom.
The hope is that they’ll be better, a worthwhile and enjoyable team that leaves the misery of 2019 and 2020 in particular behind, and perhaps even that they’ll surprise and make a deep playoff run.