With another playoff-less season for the Atlanta Falcons, Raheem Morris has made a lot of enemies this season. The Falcons are sitting at 6-9 through 15 games, yet Morris' hot seat has cooled off considerably across the last few games due to two meaningless road wins against weak opponents.
The number of winnable games this team has lost throughout the season is truly sickening, and it's why the fanbase has turned on him. The frustration of knowing they're only coming through when nothing's on the line led ex-Falcons' QB Kurt Benkert to send a message that was shaded at Morris.
If Liam Coen, Ben Johnson, and Mike Vrabel don’t show you the importance of ripping off the bandaid on mediocre coaching, I don’t know what will.
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) December 23, 2025
QB’s NEED good coaching to reach their potential.
Benkert subtly pointed to the hirings of Liam Coen, Ben Johnson, and Mike Vrabel to enforce his belief that coaching matters in the NFL. Three talented rosters hired their head coaches and are now true playoff contenders, and he seems to hope the Dirty Birds follow in their footsteps this offseason.
Kurt Benkert is the latest member of the "fire Raheem Morris" club
Just like the Falcons will this year, the Patriots, Jaguars, and Bears were all picking inside the top 10 of the NFL Draft just a season ago. But they all managed to smash their ensuing coaching hires out of the park, which is something the Falcons have failed to do since Dan Quinn, or potentially Mike Smith.
This team has no excuse to be this bad. Their quarterback situation is adequate, but they have a generational running back, an elite receiver, a blossoming young tight end, a solid offensive line, and two foundational pass-rushers on the defensive line. That situation screams contenders 9/10 times.
Something worth noting is that the nucleus Morris and Terry Fontenot have built in Atlanta is arguably far superior than all of those rosters, coaching is just what's holding this team back. The production is finally turning a corner, but even that doesn't change how inconsistent this coaching staff has been.
Last season, they jumped out to a 6-3 start and missed the playoffs, but this season, it's the meaningless games that could see Arthur Blank give him a third season. There's been enough momentum that he obviously has ownership's support, but his decision won't come any time soon.
Additionally, Michael Penix Jr. hasn't become anything special this season and he was even out-played by an aging Kirk Cousins before getting hurt. He might miss some of 2026, but the play-calling failed to help him reach his potential even before the 25-year-old tore his ACL a few weeks ago.
The 49-year-old coach certainly isn't out of the woods despite the two victories, because he's still on the hot seat. And like many other fans, Benkert thinks that it's only a matter of time before Morris is handed a pink slip in order to continue the lineage of new coaches helping young quarterbacks.