Atlanta Falcons: An open letter to Dan Quinn and Arthur Blank

It is hard to understand what exactly is taking place with the Atlanta Falcons.

Dear Atlanta Falcons, who is losing fun for. Certainly not the players, though as Dan Quinn has told us 20 times over the past three seasons, this is a resilient group. But surely, the Atlanta Falcons players can’t enjoy this.

Here’s why it hurts.

As fans, we’ve been through the ‘98-’99 Super Bowl, the Michael Vick experience, the Bobby Petrino year in hell, and the 2017 Super Bowl collapse. We are still here. We’ve gone through three uniform changes, helped close out a stadium field with memories and open a new one hoping to make more.

But the Atlanta Falcons keep letting us down. A 20 point lead in a game in the NFL should lead to a win and for just about any other team, it would. We knew this season would be different without fans in the stands, we knew there would be some adjustments but one thing is sure, the Falcons haven’t forgotten how to choke.

Maybe Dan Quinn likes reminding us how pissed off they are loss after loss. Maybe he likes showing how positive he can be in the worst of situations.

For the third year in a row now, the Falcons are facing an uphill battle just to make the playoffs. What happened to compete, Mr. Quinn? What happened to realize the urgency of the moment?

How is it Sunday after Sunday you find new ways to lose a game and find even more creative ways to justify it in meaningless post-game press conferences?

How do you waste talent with the likes of Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Todd Gurley, Grady Jarrett, and Deion Jones?

And yet, the fans are still here. Taking the heat on Twitter, showing pride in their team donning a logo that so often brings with it so much pain. Collapse after collapses, loss after loss, incompetent clock management and play calling, we still show up.

Dan Quinn and coaching staff, you had a chance to prove yourself against the Dallas Cowboys. You had a chance to go on the road and make a statement win. You did the opposite. You squandered four touchdown passes and no turnovers by Matt Ryan, you blew a 20 point lead, you gave up 570 yards of offense, and most of all, you lost the game.

DQ: you’ve had three full seasons and a treacherous start to this one to show you were the guy that could pull the Falcons back to relevancy after a historic Super Bowl collapse. We made Kyle Shanahan the scapegoat and you stayed.

You tried to be the defensive coordinator and it backfired. You relieved people of their duties and you made coaching changes that haven’t worked. You claim to see potential in guys that consistently give up big plays and you have pushed the “brotherhood” into some embarrassing losses.

Enough is enough. Please, just leave and let us figure this out. And if you don’t, Arthur Blank, make an executive decision. If for no one else, do it for the fans. They deserve better.