By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

“And like that…he is gone.”

It’s been 25 years since Kevin Spacey uttered that line at the end of “The Usual Suspects”, unveiling one of the biggest plot twists in cinematic history.

Yet, I can’t help but think how those six simple words may apply to the Atlanta Falcons personnel at the end of the season.

It was a foregone conclusion Dan Quinn would be dismissed at the end of the season. He did not make it that far.

The decision the Falcons front office, specifically Arthur Blank, will now have to make on the direction of the franchise- do they continue and try to make it with the roster they currently have constructed, or take a step back and begin to build for the future?

Atlanta has some big-name talent at some of the more prestigious positions, but they are more than a new coach away from being a playoff team.

That’s not to say the organization needs to dismantle everything from the ground up, but their focus needs to shift from trying to make one last run to making decisions based on what’s best for the team in the long term.

How that translation will look could go a few different ways. Does Atlanta take the Bill Belichick approach and start getting rid of productive players a year early as opposed to a year too late?

This way of making decisions certainly has proven to work in New England, but can prove to be a difficult sell to fan bases that haven’t experienced that type of success.

Do they bring in young, future starters through the draft and free agency, allowing them to learn from the veterans?

It’s an ideal way to go about things since it keeps fans happy and allows the younger players to grow.

The downside, of course, being most top tier players don’t want to spend their remaining years grooming their replacement; in most cases they’d rather be traded or released.

And let’s be honest, when I’m talking about the positions those choices will revolve around, I’m talking about Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.

Both of those guys have one, maybe two years left, before we start to see a precipitous drop in their level of play.

I completely understand if Atlanta chooses to go with whatever option suits Ryan and Jones best, they just need to make sure it’s not to the detriment of the franchise, moving forward.

Look, Atlanta’s in that unfortunate situation where they’re going to have to sacrifice the end of the careers for some of their most important players for the good of the franchise.

Again, that doesn’t mean they can’t be competitive, but it’s not easy to admit making the Super Bowl isn’t the main focus.

The NFL is full of teams that have made surprise runs to the playoffs and exceeded expectations. And I realize it’s a bit premature to start talking about next year when we’re not even halfway through this season.

It’s almost a guarantee things will look very different in Atlanta, beginning with a new coach.