It’s not happening again. The Falcons are not going 11-5. They are not making the playoffs. The schedule’s too difficult, a below-average defense lost its best LB (Brooking), the secondary’s too young, and Roddy White’s holdout, coupled with No. 3 receiver Harry Douglas being lost for the season has the team scrambling for alternative options at WR. How desperate are they at wideout? Marty Booker. He was released by the Bears, who only have the weakest WR corps in the NFL. (But you know a photo of this sick grab is hanging above his fireplace.)

Now that our Debbie Downer portion of the preview is over, let’s say some nice things about Atlanta.

We hear the strip clubs are phenomenal. The city is clean. The people are friendly. The hotels are pretty sweet. How tight is this 1987 Hawks jersey? The airport has a bevy of really tasty food options. Remember the Brian Oliver-Dennis Scott-Kenny Anderson trio that reached the Final Four? Good times.

As you can see above, Tony Gonzalez has arrived. Even though he’s 33 1/2, we’re pretty sure he’s going to catch around 65 passes. And that’s with or without Roddy White. (Also, his wife is wonderful to look at.)

Michael Turner will probably rush for 1,500 yards, but fantasy football owners, beware of the curse of 370! We got that in ESPN the Mag’s fantasy football preview. Basically, it says that “running backs who cross the 370-carry threshold one season tend to see their stock tumble in the next … In the history of the NFL, 27 RBs prior to Turner have amassed 370 or more carries in a season, and all but one of them (LT in 2002) declined in terms of total fantasy points the next year.” In real football, even if Turner struggles, Jerious Norwood isn’t a bad backup. Both are better than Jamal Anderson, who is still living off that one great 1,800 yard season.

[Ahhh, Madden and Summerall. Those were the days.]

Matt Ryan’s backup isn’t Steve Bartkowski (love that helmet), but rather Chris Redman. As far as backup QBs go, that’s akin to buying tickets to a Chris Rock show and then him calling in sick and having to stomach Louis CK or something. Wait, why are we talking about backup QBs? Here’s what matters: Vegas has Atlanta’s over/under for wins at 8. The vaunted football outsiders have the Falcons going 7-9. We’ll say this about the brutal schedule – if they can somehow manage a 6-6 mark after 12 games, the playoffs will be within reach because they close at home against New Orleans and Buffalo, and on the road against the Jets and Bucs. Four very winnable games. Getting there, though, won’t be easy.

Go ahead and chalk up road losses to New England, Dallas, Carolina, and the Giants. Philly and Washington both visit the ATL. Yup, start thinking about 2010.

And despite the first paragraph, we like what the Falcons are building in Atlanta. But this year, we’ve got them going 7-9.

2009 NFL Previews

NFC East: Dallas Cowboys | Philadelphia Eagles | New York Giants | Washington Redskins

NFC North: Chicago Bears | Detroit Lions | Minnesota Vikings | Green Bay Packers

NFL South: Tampa Bay Bucs