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After whiffing on the Cleveland Browns and all the potential glorious Johnny Football that would have come with it, HBO’s Hard Knocks have chosen the Atlanta Falcons as this season’s focus for the show.

Going from Johnny Football to Matt Ryan is like going from a rave to a bingo game in terms of entertainment value but HBO had to get someone to do the damn show and the Falcons surprisingly agreed.

The NFL have three rules in place which can excuse teams from participating. Those include having a new head coach, previous participation in the show within the last ten years and having been to the playoffs in one of the previous two seasons. The Falcons qualified for the last exemption.

Perhaps the strongest argument for holding Hard Knocks in Atlanta is that it will give the Falcons some visibility. Though the team has been pretty solid (last year excluded), Matty Ice is the Wonder Bread of quarterbacks and the most memorable thing about the Falcons’ previous season was the Julio Jones’ Visa dance.

Maybe Hard Knocks will help change that.