What to look forward to during the final Atlanta Falcons game of 2019

The Atlanta Falcons 2019 season will end this Sunday when the (6-9) Falcons travel to Tampa in a battle for second place in the NFC South.

While this is the final game of the season for the Atlanta Falcons, there are still reasons to keep your eye on this matchup.

A win or a loss here can weigh heavily as to what the future of this Atlanta Falcons team will look like going forward.

Player energy

This could very well be – or not be – the final game we see Dan Quinn on the Atlanta Falcons sideline and the players know this. It is very well known that Dan Quinn is loved by his players and the result of this game may very well be the deciding factor as to what Arthur Blank decides.

It seems with a pretty heavy assumption that Quinn will be back in 2020. However, a loss to Tampa and a 6-10 finish to the season may be enough to seal Quinn’s fate, erasing all the goodwill accrued from the bye week

Add safety and Man of the Year finalist, Ricardo Allen to the list of players who publicly came to the defense of Dan Quinn and laid claim to the fact that the players are playing hard and doing all they can to keep Quinn for 2020.

If the Atlanta Falcons find themselves down at any point of the game, it will be interesting to see how the players respond and if they lay down or not in what seems to be the final effort to save Dan Quinn’s job.

One of the best QB/WR duos ever

Julio Jones will need only 84 yards to eclipse the 1,400 yard mark for the sixth time in his career, tying the Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. This would also make six consecutive 1,400 yards seasons, extending his own record he currently owns.

While Matt Ryan may not surpass John Elway this season since we will enter the Week 17 matchup just over 600-yards shy, a major game by him would make it that much easier to jump up to 9th on the all-time NFL passing list.

When both Jones and Ryan hang up their cleats for good, they could be in the same conversation as Rice and Montana – minus the super bowls.

Vic Beasley redemption tour

When the Atlanta Falcons drafted Beasley in 2015, he got off to a slow start but took a major step forward in 2016. However, since 2016, Beasley has yet to produce at a dominating level again.

Prior to the bye week, Beasley accounted for only 1.5 sacks on the season. Since the notorious bye week turnaround this Atlanta Falcons team has had, Vic has elevated his play and now has eight sacks on the season. this Week 17 matchup is a great chance to get double digits as Jameis Winston is the most sacked quarterback in the league (46).

This also puts the Atlanta Falcons in a dilemma as this is Beasley’s contract season. Although he has endured a lot of low moments, way more than the Falcons would like, his recent performance spike could be enough for the Falcons to consider their options on bringing him back to Atlanta.

Albeit, this would be with a hefty pay cut as the team is already in cap hell.

Better offensive line play

Ever since the return of rookie right guard Chris Lindstrom, the Atlanta Falcons offensive line has endured their seasons best performance.

Over the course of the past three games, Matt Ryan has only been sacked a total of four times. That’s the least amount of sacks over a three games stretch this season.

With giving Ryan more time to throw the ball and taking fewer hits, this Week 17 matchup will be a good test for this offensive line. The previous Tampa Bay matchup saw Matt Ryan get sacked nine times for a loss of 53 yards.

This offensive line is the key to success for the Atlanta Falcons to win the final Falcons game of the decade.

Dan Quinn just might survive the 2019 season after all.