Falcons owner Arthur Blank needs to take a holistic look at the state of franchise

With “black Monday” just four days away, no one has any idea what Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank will decide to do.

Everything that has been “leaked” from the Atlanta Falcons, has been the same message – Blank is still weighing all options. As the owner, that is obviously his decision alone. Recency bias and the player’s love of head coach Dan Quinn will more than likely play a huge factor in what happens after the conclusion of the season Sunday.

We all know the Atlanta Falcons have had a great second half of the season, including the two best road wins of the 2019 season. The defense which was near the bottom of the league after eight games, has played among the best over the last two months.

This will be the third season under Dan Quinn that the Atlanta Falcons have missed the playoffs. If anyone has paid attention to Dan Quinn they noticed a long time ago that this team has yet to play consistent football all season long.

In 2015, the Falcons started out 5-0 and went 6-2 in their first eight games under Dan Quinn, but went 2-6 in the second half of the season to finish 8-8. In 2016, the Atlanta Falcons started 4-3 before getting hot after the bye-week and finishing 11-5.

The Atlanta Falcons 2017 was just as inconsistent as the first two years under Dan Quinn. The team started 4-4 before finishing 10-6 and making the postseason for the second straight year. In 2018, the Falcons had losing streaking of three games and then five games en route to a 7-9 season and the first losing season under Dan Quinn.

Thursday morning Ricardo Allen told Ian Rapoport that the team was playing to keep Dan Quinn’s job.

"“That’s what the majority of us are out here doing … We’ll do anything we can to fight for him.”"

That is great to hear, but where was this pride in the first eight weeks? All these same players told us this summer was pretty much Super Bowl or bust in 2019 and they came out a complete bust. If they were really willing to fight for him, why didn’t they actually fight for him when there was still something to play when there was something achievable left to accomplish?

This isn’t even just about the results on the field have been either. A big part of success within any franchise is the ability to promote and develop your coaching staff to sustain success even after the coach’s leave for other jobs.

Dan Quinn has failed miserably in this department. He has had three full coaching staff in five seasons and other that Kyle Shanahan, have any of the coaches been good for a full 16 games. To essentially have three new staff in five seasons speaks to Dan Quinn’s inability to identify coaching talent and what would serve his roster best.

If Arthur Blank is taking a holistic look at the state of his Atlanta Falcons franchise and where they are under Dan Quinn, he will see that it is time to wipe the slate clean from the top down, including Thomas Dimitroff, and put together a franchise that this city can be proud of.