One year removed from a season that crippled the organization from top to bottom, the Atlanta Falcons have to feel good about where they are.

This time last year, team owner Arthur Blank couldn’t buy a break. He had invested more than $100 million into Michael Vick, who was the face of the franchise and the man responsible for keeping the Georgia Dome sold out since 2002.

Vick owned the city of Atlanta. He was bigger than Dominique, Dale and Deion. More popular than Chipper, Smoltz and Glavine. And he threw it all away for the “thrill” of fighting dogs.

Blank made the terrible decision of hiring Bobby Petrino, who did everyone a favor by bolting town less than 24 hours after coaching the Falcons on Monday Night Football. But even though Petrino’s exodus was a good thing, it was still a black eye for Blank. It still made the franchise look silly.

In an attempt to right the ship, Blank tried to bring in Bill Parcells to clean up the mess. But again, Blank and the Falcons were left looking foolish.

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Vick was in prison, Parcells was on his way to Miami and Petrino was in Fayetteville. Blank had no coach, no GM and no franchise quarterback.

Fast-forward to this past Sunday when Atlanta went into Lambeau Field – just like it did in the 2003 playoffs when Vick enjoyed his finest hour – and emerged victorious. Things don’t look so bad now, do they?

The Falcons are 3-2. They are just one game back of division-leading Carolina in the NFC South. They appear to have their present-and-future QB in Matt Ryan, who is steadily improving and showing the moxy needed to lead a team.

Atlanta has the up-and-coming Thomas Dimitroff as its new GM. Dimitroff was the Director of College Scouting for the Patriots for the five years preceding the team’s run to a 16-0 record. He was a man Bill Belichick hated to lose.

Dimitroff hired Mike Smith, who by most (albeit early) indications is looking like an excellent head-coaching hire. Smith is the antithesis of Petrino, who rubbed players the wrong way from the get-go.

Dimitroff decided to give big money ($34.5 million) to free-agent running back Michael Turner, LaDainian Tomlinson’s back-up in San Diego. Turner leads the NFL in rushing yards (543) and has scored six touchdowns. He’s averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Dimitroff elected to sign 38-year-old Jason Elam as an unrestricted free agent, and all Elam has done is make all 11 of his field-goal attempts. Dimitroff decided to trade loud-mouth CB DeAngelo Hall for a second-round pick that netted rookie LB Curtis Lofton, who is third on the team in tackles.

The Falcons have the NFL’s sack leader in John Abraham, the oft-injured defensive end who is wreaking havoc in opposing backfields. Abraham has seven sacks, but his play often goes overlooked by just glancing at the box score. For instance, he drew a holding penalty and an intentional grounding in last week’s 27-24 win at Green Bay.

Atlanta also has fourth-year WR Roddy White, who is third in the NFL in receiving yards with 454. Of White’s 26 receptions, 19 have been for first-down yardage. He had eight catches for 132 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone against the Packers.

To be clear, we aren’t suggesting that Falcons fans need to start looking into playoff tickets yet. We aren’t saying that Ryan is destined for greatness after just five games in the league. After all, Atlanta’s three wins have come over opponents that have a combined record of 3-11.

But we are saying that things are clearly moving in a positive direction 10 months after Vick was sent to prison and Petrino bolted for the Ozarks. The Falcons have a QB with a bright future. They have a pair of big-time RBs in Turner and Jerious Norwood. They have a go-to WR in White and a sack-happy pass rusher in Abraham.

If Atlanta can find a way to beat Chicago as a 2 ½-point home underdog this weekend, it will take a 4-2 record into the bye week. The first three foes following the open date currently have losing records.

At this time last year, Blank was a billionaire with headaches galore. Today he owns what looks like a solid team that has quickly put the Season from Hell behind it.