The Atlanta Falcons struggles continue after first home loss

After another dismal performance by the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, it is quite evident that there are some serious changes that need to be made.

It only took the Titans three minutes to get onto the scoreboard Sunday in Atlanta. The score came from a 55-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota to A.J. Brown. The Atlanta Falcons next drive was promising as it looked like Matt Ryan and the offense seemed to take the momentum from the second half of the previous game into this one.

Ryan led the Falcons to the end zone on 6 plays for an 85-yard drive to tie the game 7-7. It all seemed to go downhill from there.

The Falcons gave up another touchdown on the next drive putting the Titans up 14-7, and then Matt Ryan proceeded to fumble the ball back to the Titans on their next drive. After another field goal and a touchdown by the Titans, as well as a missed 35-yard field goal by Falcons kicker Matt Bryant, the Titans led the Falcons going into the half 24-7.

The Falcons came out of the second half with a field goal, putting them back within two possessions. Unfortunately, that would be the last time either team managed to score any more points.

The rest of the game was littered with poor decisions, nonexistent coverage from the defense, undisciplined players, and terrible coaching decisions. There are plenty of things that the Falcons need to work on in order to salvage the remainder of the season.

Coaching

It is time for a change in Atlanta. The coaching staff has become stagnant and anemic, and quite honestly Dan Quinn looks lost on the sidelines. It seems safe to say that the miraculous offense and Super Bowl contending team that we saw in 2016, was really the brains of then offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. The fact that Dan Quinn has had to go through 3 offensive coordinators and 3 defensive coordinators in his 5-year tenure seem to say a lot about Quinn.

When he decided to take over the defensive reigns, fans thought that he may be able to do something positive with our defense and move forward. Instead, it would appear that he is constantly unsure of himself and his players and confused about what he needs to be playing in certain situations.

When the Falcons decided to bring back former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, that should have been another sure sign that things were going awry. Koetter works his offense much like Quinn does with his defensive; unsure of what to do and making costly decisions.

Turnovers

The turnovers are still managing to pour down on the Falcons. Although Matt Ryan did not throw an interception in this game, he did manage to have a costly fumble while the offense was trying to drive downfield. The turnover margin continues to haunt this team and must be corrected if the Falcons want to try to make a run at the division.

Rushing Game

It seems like the rushing attack is still not fully there. Even with the offensive line so banged up and playing so poorly, it would be nice to see Devonta Freeman get a little more than just 28 yards on 12 carries.

It would have been logical to see more from Ito Smith as he only got 2 touches for 11 yards and the lone touchdown for the Falcons.

Discipline

Discipline still tainted the team on Sunday. Even after managing to get 16 penalties called against the team last weekend, the team still managed to make costly errors and mistakes. This all falls back on Dan Quinn. There is no reason for the team to make such silly penalties, especially after what happened in the previous game. That is just a pure lack of discipline, and it truly makes it that much harder to win football games.

Final Thoughts

In such a difficult game to watch, there was a lot to be learned from this game. Coaching is the main thing. It is time for the Atlanta Falcons to cut their losses and part ways with Quinn. There is just too much talent on this team, offense, and defense, to be playing so poorly. The undisciplined nature of the team seems to continually get worse, and it seems as if Quinn has no way of fixing the issue. Quinn has done a lot for the team, but in the last two years, it is evident that it is time to move on.

The Falcons are now 1-9 against AFC opponents dating back to 2017, which is a ridiculous statistic to hold. While it is only in the first quarter of the long season, it would appear that the Falcons hopes for the playoffs are virtually over. They have trouble winning on the road, which their next two games are, and dropping this one at home really hurts them. Not only losing, but the way that they lost is evident that this team is in no position to contend for a championship this year.

I still have hope for the Falcons, but I just don’t see much changing in the games ahead unless Falcons owner Arthur Blank and general manager Thomas Dimitroff make some much-needed changes.