About this Atlanta Falcons Team...

I've not written much about the NFL this year, because college and Formula 1 have been so interesting. But now there are a mere two weeks left in the regular season, and two teams have separated themselves from the pack. For so long a general parity reigned in the league, as a few teams soared higher in the win total, and other rocked around the .500 mark.

Now, with all teams having played fourteen games, a group of six teams sits at 10-4 (New Orleans, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and the NY Jets). Now, 10-4 is not a bad record, but all six teams sit two games behind the New England Patriots (no surprise there) and the Atlanta Falcons, who are both 12-2.

These Falcons, by virtue of winning against Seattle last week, now need only one win in their last two games to guarantee themselves home-filed throughout the playoffs. Remember, these are the same Falcons who are 19-1 under Matt Ryan at home. To me, that says if Atlanta beats either New Orleans Monday night, or Carolina on January 2nd, the only time they'll have to go on the road again would be to travel to Dallas for the Super Bowl.

Three years ago, standard knowledge was that the Falcons would need upwards of five years to rebuild. Mike Vick was in jail for dog fighting and interstate gambling, Coach Bobby Petrino snuck out of town in the middle of the night to coach Arkansas, meaning the team was left coachless and quarterbackless. But then Thomas Dimitroff was hired as the General Manager. One of his first moves was to hire Jacksonville's defensive coach, Mike Smith.

As the new office regime was installed, the Draft rolled around. Many people felt that the Falcons would draft Glenn Dorsey, a defensive tackle out of LSU, but the need for quarterback was too great. With the third overall pick in the draft, the Falcons took Matt Ryan, the QB out of Boston College. Several other key picks, and the free agent signing of Michael Turner, RB from San Diego, made the Falcons a playoff team in one year.

Then the Falcons traded for arguably the greatest Tight End in the game, Tony Gonzalez. Bringing in CB Dunta Robinson this year further solidified a core of talent that is not sexy. They aren't flashy. They just win. With the exception to to games in Pennsylvania, the Falcons are undefeated. They've beaten New Orleans, Baltimore, and Green Bay. They've not lost since mid-October.

At the pace they're playing, these Falcons are poised for a deep run into the playoffs. Maybe we should buy plane tickets to Dallas in February...