Raheem Morris leaves the Atlanta Falcons with a mixed legacy

The Atlanta Falcons owe a great deal of respect and thanks to Raheem Morris.

However, he leaves the Atlanta Falcons organizations with a mixed legacy. When Dan Quinn got off to his horrendous 0-5 start, Raheem Morris saved the Falcons from utter collapse.

It’s easy to look at the Falcons record and find very few positives in a 4-12 finish. But sometimes numbers lie. Let’s take away the start and look at what Morris did as the interim head coach. This is always a tough ask of someone who’s been in the organization for as long as he was. He was a friend of Quinn’s but he was also a voice player knew.

You have to wonder why he got the nod considering his role with the defense and how badly they were playing, but after he took over the Falcons improved on that side of the ball. (We are by no means ignoring Jeff Ulbrich’s contributions here.) Morris simplified the defense and led the Falcons to their only wins of the season. He stabilized a ship that was sinking fast and made that feel a little less painful.

Even after going 1-5, there was still a glimmer of hope that this season could be salvaged. Under Morris they held a vaunted Chiefs offense to 17 points in Kansas City, they held the Saints to 24 and 21, and most of all they continued to compete.

Ultimately some of the same issues continued to crop up. Blown double-digit leads, an inability to get pressure on the quarterback, and an offense run by Dirk Koetter that failed to produce too many times than not.

Raheem Morris simply had too much Dan Quinn in him for the Atlanta Falcons.

Raheem Morris’ fate could be in large part tied to the same stubbornness that cost Quinn. Everyone knew Koetter’s play-calling was a problem yet he continued to ride him. Why? Who knows. The Falcons had nothing to lose. And his game management was always questionable. There were a number of ill-advised challenges and clock snafus that just made you wonder, is he really the best guy going forward.

Morris didn’t shy away from calling out players in the media and holding them accountable which is always appreciated. Especially when those guys are your franchise leaders like Matt Ryan and big free agent signings like Dante Fowler, Jr. But he just couldn’t get it done when it mattered.

He had his shot. And he gave it his best bet but fell short. Regardless of what happens next, Morris is the reason why the Falcons won their four games. And for that, thank you.