The Atlanta Falcons lost their fifth straight game in Week 11, so naturally, a change in leadership should be on the horizon. But after the Dirty Birds saw both Michael Penix Jr. and Drake London go down with knee injuries in the 30-27 loss, it drastically altered the team's expectations the rest of the way.
The 3-7 Falcons have no hope to make the playoffs anymore this season, as their face of the franchise was placed on injured reserve with a partially torn ACL. While the shift to Kirk Cousins could still keep the season alive, the 37-year-old isn't the signal-caller he was back in 2022 or even 2023.
Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot are both obviously on the hot seat, but there's still a real chance that Arthur Blank fires neither of them by using the Penix injury as mistake. But at this point, it's clear that Atlanta needs a change in leadership, but it might take another season for fans to actually get it.
The Falcons need to completely clean house this offseason
Morris has been taking a lot of the heat amid this disastrous stretch, but truthfully, Fontenot deserves just as much blame. Since being hired as the general manager back in 2021, the Falcons have never made the playoffs and are just 32-46 across that pathetic four-and-a-half year time span.
The main problem with labeling Morris as on the hot seat and not Fontenot is that the lack of success has long preceded the second-year coach's arrival, as everything took a turn for the worst in Atlanta when Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff were fired back in 2020 after taking the team to Super Bowl LI.
Fontenot's track record in the draft is absolutely putrid outside of the first round, where he selected London, Penix, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts. Even Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. have showcased flashes of immense potential, but his roster constrcuction has left a lot to be desired.
The 44-year-old was well aware this team possessed no depth at wide receiver or defensive back, yet decided to add no depth at either position before the trade deadline. And after Tetairoa McMillan terrorized a secondary missing both Dee Alford and Mike Hughes, he lived to regret that choice.
The same could be said for the receiver room after London went down, as he chose to remain complacent with Darnell Mooney, KhaDarrel Hodge, Casey Washington, and David Sills behind his 24-year-old superstar—and once again, his complacency is coming back to haunt him.
The Falcons boast one of the most talented rosters in the entire NFL, yet poor management and even worse roster construction are holding this team back from its true potential. Even with Penix on IR, keeping Cousins when he had the chance to trade him was a mistake.