Through the seventh week of the NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons (3-4) have already far exceeded any pre-season expectations levied on them by national pundits.
Despite dropping Sunday's matchup with the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, the Falcons are second in the NFC South and still well within striking distance. The strong overall play from the team is a far cry from the expectations that depicted them as a hapless bunch that was more likely to secure the top overall pick in the NFL Draft than a spot in the playoffs.
The owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, stopped by The Steakhouse on Monday morning to discuss the state of the franchise. He was clear that the team was moving in the right direction under the leadership of its second-year head coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot.
"To start of the season, I think, most of the experts were predicting three to four wins the entire season and after seven games we got three [wins]," Arthur Blank told The Steakhouse. "I think more important than three [wins] is it how we got them. I think our fans can see the identity of the team being developed, in place on the field, and being used very effectively."
That identity has come to fruition during the front end of the season. Head coach Arthur Smith has made it abundantly clear that he wants to establish his culture centered around a tough, hard-nosed rushing attack. His unit is fourth in the NFL in rushing yards and third in attempts despite losing its leading rusher Cordarrelle Patterson to injury earlier this month.
While the Falcons' owner is pleased with what he's seen so far in 2022, he understands that building a franchise that can sustain success takes time, but he is confident in the leadership pieces in place are right for the job.
"When you’re an owner of an NFL team, you have a longer perspective," Blank explained. "It takes a while to build a roster, to build a system, to find the right coach. I love the coach we have now, Coach Smith -- I think it's in the second year of doing an excellent job -- a young general manager Terry Fontenot who came from the Saints after really good training there for a little less than 20 years. Our whole organization, they're moving in the right direction."
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Arthur Blank understands that this team still has some building to do in the long-term, but also that there is good reason to strike while the iron is hot. Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are struggling far more than expected, fresh off a loss to a Carolina Panthers team that is hit the reset button last week, and New Orleans has been far less than what it anticipated under new head Dennis Allen.