Well its also entirely likely last year was an aberration for Ryan and he'll revert back to career norms.
Just to be clear, I'm not arguing that Atlanta is some kind prohibitive of favorite to win the Super Bowl or even the conference. Nobody is.
The Packers: This defense is not very good and has not been for quite a while. "Just outscore 'em" has a habit of hitting a roadblock somewhere along the way.
Seattle has been in a slow erosion under the burden of core player contracts. You don't go from paying 4 Pro Bowlers $4 million to paying them $40 million without making compromises elsewhere.
The Cowboys look pretty good, but until they add speed at linebacker they have an Achilles heel. Been there, done that, right? And the QB might be the subject to a sophomore slump. Defenses have had and will have time to construct adjustments. Will the QB counter-adjust? We'll just have to wait and see how much flexibility there is in his game.
Arizona, New York, Cam becoming a professional (I wouldn't hold my breath)? All possibilities.
So, I expect Atlanta to be firmly in the hunt. Their defense may have collapsed once in historic fashion, but we know a certain team that has a serial record of gaudy collapses, and that hasn't stopped them from going back to the playoffs year after year.