By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

If you’re a Falcons fan, it’s going to take you awhile to get over this one. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you want to you look at it, you haven’t had to deal with this type of anguish very often, so here are some tips that I hope will be helpful over the next few days.

For starters, you need to be angry. I’m not talking “they put extra pickles on my burger” type rage. No, I’m talking about DMX “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot” kind of fury. There are a lot of different angles you can direct your anger towards, but if I were you I’d start with Kyle Shanahan.

Overall, Shanahan has been the best Offensive Coordinator this year. I mean, there’s a reason he’s about to become the 49ers head coach, and deservedly so. However, I’m not 100% percent convinced he didn’t hop on a plane to San Francisco once the 4th quarter started.

The play calling during those last few possessions were downright atrocious. I respect keeping the foot on the gas and going for the jugular (or whatever other common sports vernacular you want to put in there), but Shanahan has to shoulder this loss as much, if not more, than anyone.

You could also blame the defense and the fact they gave up 31 points in what amounted to just over a quarter of play, but you knew Brady wasn’t going to be held in check for the whole game. You may also want to rant a little about the overtime rules, although, and I hate to beat a dead horse of this one, it’s hard to argue too much when you had to allow 25 unanswered points just to get to overtime.

After you finish stage one and release all that pinned up anger, sit back and realize what Atlanta accomplished this season. They went from a team that basically no one picked to even make the playoffs, and turned it into arguably the most successful season in franchise history.

Matt Ryan proved idiots like me wrong and showed himself to be a legitimate Top 5 quarterback in the league. Your running game and defense surpassed everyone’s expectations. And you probably have one of the best, if not the best, collection of receivers and tight ends in the NFL. It’s tough to see right now, but the Falcons had one hell of season and you should be proud.

Now, once you complete reflection time, the last stage is to look ahead to next year. Sure, you’re losing Shanahan, and it looks like your quarterback coach may be following suit, but you have a great collection of young players at vital positions, who are bound to improve from this season to next. If your team can stay healthy, they should be able to make a run again next year.

Of course, the Super Bowl runner-up doesn’t always seem to have much success the following year- just ask any Carolina fan how that feels- so Atlanta does have some history to overcome.

I know things look bleak now, and it will probably take a few months to get over this loss, and that assuming you even can. I’m not going to lie, you’ve got a tough road ahead. If what I’ve mentioned doesn’t help you though, then know this- most of America is on your side. We all despise the Patriots.