Atlanta Falcons still don’t know who they are after debacle in Dallas

The Atlanta Falcons are coming off of their most embarrassing loss of the season. It was a game that saw the Cowboys run up the score, going for two and going for fourth downs when the game was well out of hand.

One cannot blame the Cowboys for this when Atlanta couldn’t muster up enough frustration to offer any resistance. Matt Ryan was terrible for the third game this season and the defense was a traffic cop directing the opposing offense efficiently down the field.

Dak looked like an MVP and not the struggling quarterback he was last week against Denver. He sliced the Falcons secondary at will and when he wasn’t quite sure or the rush was getting close he tossed it in CeeDee Lamb’s general direction.

We still  have no idea who the Atlanta Falcons are and whether or not Arthur Smith was the right choice to replace Dan Quinn

Not a bad strategy when Atlanta refused to put the one corner on Lamb capable of slowing him down. Atlanta didn’t just take a gut punch in this game they suffered a knockout blow they refused to get up from.

They seemed content to lay on the mat waiting for it to be over. Atlanta didn’t show the scrappy underdog mentality we have seen so often this season against Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Washington, Miami, and New York Atlanta fought hard on both sides of the ball and kept the games close.

Even against Tampa who beat Dallas earlier this season, Atlanta had a hard-charging comeback that was ended by two interceptions that made the score a bit more lopsided than it was. These efforts were rewarded when Atlanta took down a more talented Saints team in New Orleans giving them momentum and the final wildcard spot.

One week later and all the good feelings and excitement from that game are gone. Feelings that could have been held onto if Atlanta had put together a respectable fight against a very good Dallas team.

Instead, they took the second quarter punch and didn’t get off the mat. Never finding a way to show any promise or resistance in a game that Dallas could have easily scored 60+ points in if they had wished.

Who are the Arthur Smith-led Falcons? Are they the team we have seen the four weeks prior to this game? Or are they the team we have seen get dismantled by the Eagles and Cowboys? That is a question we don’t yet know the answer to and we are over the halfway point of the season.

Atlanta isn’t going to have to wait long to begin to answer these questions. Matching up on Thursday with the New England Patriots Atlanta has a chance to bounce back right away or to remind us that just maybe they have been playing above their talent level and gotten a bit lucky.

Whatever the answer is we will be a bit closer to finding it on Thursday night in a game that Arthur Smith can’t afford to be blown out in. If it is another blowout at the hands of Mac Jones and a middling Patriots team Smith’s seat may begin to grow warm before he has gotten comfortable for a franchise who still doesn’t know who they are.