The 0-5 Atlanta Falcons fired coach Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff. I'm not a fan of firing coaches mid season but Quinn was already on the hot seat coming in to this season. Add in five straight losses to start the season including two fourth quarter collapses and you knew it was coming. As a Falcons fan this is tough. Quinn took Atlanta to the Super Bowl before collapsing historically in the second half of that game. The mental torture that was that second half <shudders>. Since Kyle Shanahan left to be the 49ers coach the Atlanta offense hasn't been close to what it was in that Super Bowl year. Atlanta hasn't made the playoffs since 2017 and it seems they have plenty of weapons on offense to be better. Yes they have dealt with injuries on defense but honestly I think the failure of the offense is what doomed him - and of course the lack of wins. It looked promising after a late surge in 2019 but it couldn't have started much worse this year.
Dimitroff had hits and misses as GM but honestly he has to take blame as well. Atlanta never could take advantage of Matt Ryan's prime after getting to the Super Bowl. Sure players must take blame as well but looking at the roster as constructed, especially on defense there were too many issues and no depth. I'm happy this happened but I am hoping the team can turn it around. I think there are plenty of weapons on offense when healthy but the defense is a hot mess especially in the secondary. Thanks to both of these guys for that Super Bowl. Like most fans I just wish there would have been more success after that.
It's probably for the best. An 0-5 team with this much talent has to do something. Benching Ryan isn't the answer, and the Falcons aren't a young, rebuilding team like the Jets or Bengals. It's a longshot, but there's still time to turn it around.
ReplyDeleteReally hoping they can show some life. You're right they are too talented to be this bad. Hopefully they can figure it out and can give us some hope for next year.
DeleteIt's never fun seeing a head coach that has done well for your team in the past get canned. When the Packers let McCarthy go... I was bummed, but realized it was something that was coming. Hated to see him go to the Cowboys, because I can't really root for him anymore.
ReplyDeleteMcCarthy definitely falls into that category. It is tough but it seems like a coaches tenure with teams is pretty fleeting nowadays.
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