Forget what Atlanta Falcons fans are saying about the meaningless nature of the games. Sure, we all like to point to the 2008 Lions and the 2017 Browns as the models for that. Those team went undefeated in the preseason but winless in the regular season. A tale of two extremes.
They were also a team quarterbacked by Jon Kitna and DeShone Kizer, respectively, for crying out loud. Not Matt Ryan. Those teams didn’t have Super Bowl aspirations like this year’s Falcons. And those teams didn’t have the brain trust at coaches like Atlanta does now.