Atlanta Falcons: Bashing Kyle Shanahan isn’t going to solve anything
It’s very well-known that Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan isn’t very well liked amongst the fan base. Everyone has their reasoning behind it, but continuing to bash him over and over again isn’t going to change anything.
If the Falcons’ organization took advice from the fan base, we’d likely have Michael Vick as are starting quarterback, Roddy White as one of our starting wide receivers and Shanahan fired. And that’s exactly why team’s don’t really care what their fans opinion is.
As harsh as that may sound, it’s the reality of the NFL. It’s a business-first, play-second league. The leagues and team’s really don’t care who wins and who loses as long as they’re making money which leaves a lot of us fans rooting for sub-par teams for most of our lives.
ESPN’s Bomani Jones made a great point earlier this month. He stated that your favorite franchise will likely go through one or two stretches in your lifetime in which they are one of the most dominant teams. And all of the other times you’re left with an overall bad team to root for.
As far as Shanahan’s likeness goes, what does it really matter what you think about him? I myself don’t like the guy very much, but i’m not going to continue to bash the guy over one season. I’ve come to learn very quickly that the Falcons’ fan base doesn’t like to give people second chances unless the name is Vick. Mike Smith had a couple of bad seasons after several amazing ones and everyone was calling for his head. Shanahan has a below average season as a play caller and everyone thinks he’s the worst coordinator to ever coach football. C’mon people.
If he has another bad season, then you can start to bash him all you want, but until then, you need to support your coaching staff. He was picked by Dan Quinn for a reason. He’s a very knowledgable coordinator that has a complicated playbook. It’s the type of playbook that once you master it, opposing defenses will have nightmares about it. He just hasn’t been given the time to let his players learn it. Wine get’s better with age, doesn’t it?
You should also think about your franchise quarterback Matt Ryan. Most of you wanted Shanahan fired after this season, correct? Well, if that had of happened, Ryan would have had to learn his third offensive playbook in three years. You really think that would have been the smartest move? The smartest move is to bring Shanahan back and let him and Ryan to continue to work to master it.
Ryan has already stated during the recent OTA’s that he and his offense are already miles further along than they were at that point last season. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to trust Ryan’s judgement. He’s the one making $100 million. If he wanted Shanahan gone, he would have had the power to do so.
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Is it too much to ask for us as fans to come together and give the Falcons’ players and coaches are full support for a change? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you also need to realize that if it’s a negative opinion, it isn’t doing any good.