Shutdown Corner is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per weekday in reverse order of our initial 2017 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on Aug. 2, the day before the Hall of Fame Game kicks off the preseason.

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For the Atlanta Falcons, we’ll present two different intros to their preview. Because either of these arguments about the 2017 Falcons make sense …

PREVIEW INTRO NO. 1

The Atlanta Falcons are set up for a great, long run. A disappointing loss in the Super Bowl might provide the necessary motivation.

By the end of last season, Atlanta was scary. Early in the season it was clear the offense turned a corner. Matt Ryan played at an MVP level all season. Julio Jones was Julio Jones and the running game with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman was fantastic.

Then the defense took a huge step forward. From the Week 11 bye through the NFC championship game, the Falcons’ young defense allowed more than 21 points just once (not counting when the Kansas City Chiefs scored 28, because eight points came from safety Eric Berry’s interception returns). The Falcons are young on defense, top cornerback Desmond Trufant returns from injury and free-agent nose tackle Dontari Poe was added. The defense should be even better and the offense is coming off a historic season.

The Falcons were dominant for most of the playoffs. Atlanta outplayed the Seattle Seahawks in a 36-20 divisional round win. The Falcons were up 31-0 on the Green Bay Packers early in the second half of an easy NFC championship game victory. And thanks to a great game plan, the Falcons led a dominant New England Patriots team 28-3 in the Super Bowl (you might know what happened after they took that lead). There was nothing weird about the Falcons’ playoff run. They were legit. And just about everyone returns.

Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is gone, and that might be a huge loss. But every team loses something in an offseason, and there were few personnel losses off a deep roster. If the Falcons use a historic Super Bowl collapse as motivation, they can finish the job this season.

PREVIEW INTRO NO. 2

Just about every team that loses a Super Bowl feels the effect the next season. And that’s for your normal Super Bowl losses.

The last team to lose a Super Bowl and make it back the next season was the 1993 Buffalo Bills. The last team to lose a Super Bowl and win it all the next year? The 1972 Miami Dolphins. The Super Bowl hangover is real. You play three or four extra games, your offseason is a month shorter, and you don’t even have a ring to show for it at the end. The Super Bowl loser knows better than anyone how tough it is to scale the mountain and win a title. Getting mentally ready to make that trek again – not to mention avoiding bad luck, injuries and simply getting knocked off by the next ascending team in an ultra-competitive league – is tough.

And that’s for normal Super Bowl losses. Atlanta did not have a normal Super Bowl loss.

The Falcons experienced the worst single-game collapse in American professional sports history. No other team had ever blown a game like that, on that stage. No matter where the Falcons go from here, they’ll never forget blowing a 28-3 lead in a Super Bowl. How do you come back from that?

The Falcons have a fantastic roster. Just about everyone returns. The offense was one of the highest scoring in the history of the NFL, and Matt Ryan won an MVP. The defense improved tremendously late in the season. On paper, there’s no reason to believe the Falcons will take a step back. Then again, there was no reason to believe the Carolina Panthers would struggle last season after going 15-1 the year before and losing Super Bowl 50. They went 6-10.

The Falcons can say all the right things. But there’s a lot of history going against them, and there’s no blueprint on how to rebound from blowing a 25-point lead in a Super Bowl. No team before the Falcons had ever blown more than a 10-point lead and lost a Super Bowl. If the Falcons come right back and win a Super Bowl, it will be just as historic as their collapse against the Patriots.