Marcus Mariota leads Falcons into Sunday’s post-Matt Ryan opener with Saints

Barack Obama was still a few months away from being elected president.

Instagram was still two years from being launched, while no one really knew what to make of Twitter and Facebook, which were still in their infancy.

“Low” by Flo Rida and T-Pain dominated the airwaves, while “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man” ushered in a new era of movies centered around comic book characters.

But something that hadn’t changed since 2008 was who would lead the Atlanta Falcons onto the field to open the season, as Matt Ryan blossomed from unproven rookie to the Falcons’ first franchise quarterback.

However, times change and so do quarterbacks.

Welcome to the Marcus Mariota era, which begins Sunday at 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium when the Falcons host their most-hated foe, the New Orleans Saints.

The Falcons and Saints are coming off disappointing seasons that saw each miss the playoffs, with New Orleans finishing 9-8 and the Falcons going 7-10.

The marquee matchup of Ryan against former Saints quarterback Drew Brees that had become must-see TV has been replaced by a Mariota against Jameis Winston — a pair of former Heisman Trophy winners who haven’t lived up to their lofty expectations.

“I’ve always told [Jameis] ‘I’m one of your biggest fans,’ and I’ve always wished him well,” Mariota said. “Now, that we’re kind of going on these different paths and different journeys, that doesn’t change for me”

Mariota, who served as Derek Carr’s backup in Las Vegas for the past two season, will make his Atlanta debut on Sunday. The former Titans’ starter completed just 18 passes for 230 yards the past two seasons combined in Sin City.

“It’s almost surreal right,” Mariota said. “The last couple of seasons, you’re always one play away, you’re always prepared to be the starter but to be here again in this situation, to have this opportunity is very exciting for me and I can’t wait for it on Sunday.”

Winston threw for 1,170 yards and had 14 touchdowns in seven starts, as his season was cut short by a torn ACL injury.

Winston will look to get the ball to Alvin Kamara, who totaled 1,337 scrimmage yards (898 rush, 439 rec.) last season. He’s the only player in the NFL with at least 1,300 scrimmage yards in each of past five seasons. His 373 receptions are also the most by a running back in his first five seasons.

Winston also will look to get the ball to Michael Thomas, who missed last year recovering from surgery to fix an injured ankle, has 510 receptions for 5,950 yards and 32 touchdowns in 70 career games.

“When you have an elite receiver like Mike, just get him the ball,” Winston said of Thomas, who in 2019 set an NFL record for receptions in a season with 149. “Put the ball around him, and he’s going to make plays.”

Thomas will team with Jarvis Landry, who arrived in New Orleans from Cleveland and is one of three players who has made at least 50 receptions in each of the past eight seasons, along with Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce.

The Falcons, who have dropped four of their past five against the Saints, will need big games from running back Cordarelle Patterson and Kyle Pitts.

Patterson set career highs in scrimmage yards (1,166) touchdowns (11) in 2021 and only he, San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel and the Chargers’ Austin Ekeler had at least 500 rushing and receiving yards, in addition to five touchdowns rushing and receiving.

Pitts has emerged as one of the game’s top tight ends. Though he scored just one touchdown last year, his 1,026 yards were the second-most ever by a rookie tight end and trailed on Kelce and Baltimore’s Mark Andrews for the league lead at the position.

Two other receivers will be making their Falcons debut, as Drake London was drafted eighth overall and Bryan Edwards arrived from Last Vegas, where he set career highs with 34 catches for 571 yards and three touchdowns.

“We’ve got somewhat zero film to work off of to prepare for what could be a lethal offense,” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, who had 12 ½ sacks last season, said. You’ve got Cordarrelle Patterson … Throw in Kyle Pitts, who’s in my mind is going to be one of the top talked about wide receivers in the game. … With Marcus Mariota, now we’ve got to go back and watch some film (of the QB in his previous stops). We’ve got to break down who he is because he’s not a traditional pocket passer like Matt (Ryan) was. This is going to change up their game a lot.”