It’s gut check time for the Atlanta Falcons

After giving the fans hope with their win against the Eagles in week two, the Atlanta Falcons wet the bed against the Colts.

The Atlanta Falcons defense had Jacoby Brissett looking like Peyton Manning for the better part of the game on Sunday. Marlon Mack at times seemed as if he couldn’t be tackled. To add insult to injury, safety Keanu Neal looks as if he will be out for the season with an Achilles injury which is not good news for a talented but inconsistent defense.

The offense had their struggles Sunday as well. Penalties killed the Atlanta Falcons on both sides of the ball, though the defense was the bigger issue as they gave the Colts seven first downs via penalty.

Matt Ryan threw another interception today which again is uncharacteristic for him but he did finish the game strong.

The Falcons are now 1-2 in a depleted NFC South division and fans are getting restless and impatient as well. How could a team with all this talent underperform like this?

If the seat wasn’t hot under Dan Quinn before, it is right now. The similarities between Dan Quinn’s current time with the Falcons and former coach Mike Smith’s are somewhat similar. The first couple of years were full of success but as time went on, Mike Smith lost this team and it’s looking the same way right now for Quinn.

It’s still early in the season and all is not lost for the Falcons but this type of play will no longer be acceptable. Fans are tired of the excuses and starving for a championship because they know how good their team can be and are tired of waiting around for this team to put it together.

There are 13 more games left, which is plenty of time for this Falcons team to get right and play right. Tennessee is up next, a team with a pretty solid defense but an offense that’s nowhere near the best out there.

After losing this game against the Colts the way they did (by shooting themselves repeatedly in both feet), these boys need to come out and play some inspired, clean football and put this league back on notice.

Dan Quinn is a great coach and his track record proves that. He was a defensive coordinator on a Super Bowl-winning team. This Atlanta Falcons roster is full of NFL caliber players who aren’t here for no reason, their talent got them here.

Every man on that roster and every coach on the staff needs to wake up in the morning and look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what can I do to help this team succeed.

From here on out, this season can go two ways: the Falcons can either play their hearts out and play up to their potential or they can continue to play this horrific brand of football, let down the great city of Atlanta and possibly find themselves somewhere new next season.