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The toughest part of this season for Falcons fans has to be that they legitimately could be 5-3 right now had they just not suffered monumental late-game collapses on three different occasions. Even if there was just one, they'd be 4-4 at the halfway point with a chance to compete for a wild card. Instead, they're 2-6 with the league's toughest remaining schedule.

They have showed some life since Raheem Morris took over for Dan Quinn. They aren't dead yet.

For a team so frequently waylaid by injuries in recent years, Atlanta has only two players (DBs Darqueze Dennard and Damontae Kazee) on injured reserve this season.

Reason for optimism: RB Todd Gurley

Flipping coasts has been a good thing for Gurley, who is on pace for 1,062 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. (He has rushed for at least one TD in six of eight games.) He is a key part of a Falcons offense averaging 401 yards and 26.1 points per game, both of which rank in the top 15. -- Mike DiRocco

For a while there during Thursday's matchup against the Panthers, it felt like we were getting to watch the mechanics of a Falcons collapse in real time. There were curious coaching decisions, red-zone failures, a missed PAT, another Todd Gurley mental catastrophe, a third-and-long breakdown, even the obligatory Arthur Blank Sideline Shot Of Doom. But give Raheem Morris' team credit: Atlanta's blitz-heavy defense kept Teddy Bridgewater uncomfortable and forced the Carolina QB into the game-deciding interception with less than a minute to play, sealing a 25-17 win. The Falcons laid all the breadcrumbs for another meltdown ... then sucked them up with a Dustbuster.