The Atlanta Falcons officially kicked off a new era on Sunday, as yesterday's season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers marked the Falcons debut of new head coach Kevin Stefanski--but unfortunately for Stefanski, this matchup hardly went the way he expected when he took the job in January.
Not only did Atlanta lose by a score of 20-13, they were penalized nine times for 96 yards, missed two field goals, and turned the ball over multiple times. Based off this alone, you would think Stefanski's debut was a coaching disasterclass since it was sloppy, but those numbers don't offer fans the necessary context.
The Falcons didn't start Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback like Stefanski planned to because they're both hurt, so third-string QB Cooper Rush got the start in Pittsburgh, which makes it awfully difficult to evaluate how things looked for the new regime due to the mess under center.
Kevin Stefanski is not at fault for the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback mess
The Dirty Birds only signed Rush at the start of training camp when they released the injured Trevor Siemian, but he took basically no first-team reps this summer. In the preseason he was facing backups, so no wonder he looked awful on the road against a Steelers' starting pass-rush that's once of the best in the NFL. But the circumstances of the loss don't make it Stefanski's fault.
Yes, he could've played Jack Strand, but would things have been any different with an undrafted rookie from a D2 school starting? QB3-caliber play is still depth production. If it wasn't for NFL Armageddon on the injury front, neither signal-caller would ever sniff the field on a Sunday afternoon.
And given Rush was also dealing with back spasms, it's hard to be shocked he threw two interceptions and could barely throw the ball five air yards. Starting him didn't exactly make it easy on Stefanski and Tommy Rees to get creative from a play-calling standpoint. It was like calling plays blindfolded and with a hand tied behind your back.
The two-time Coach of the Year dealt with his fair share of QB instability in Cleveland, but this was another level. Because of Rush's limitations, the Falcons basically had to run their offense solely through Bijan Robinson--and it was the only reason they had a glimmer of hope in this one. And since the downfield passing game was nonexistent, the Drake London and Kyle Pitts were non-factors,
It's hard to dunk on Stefanski for so many factors that are out of his control. Penix isn't ready and Tua got hurt mid-week. Of course a career journeyman wasn't ready to start off of one day of practice with the 1s. In fact, you have to credit the staff for getting all they could out of Rush to make the score look respectable since in reality they would've won if they had a better QB and made their field goals.
Obviously given the circumstances it was far from the brightest Falcons debut for Kevin Stefanski, but until Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa is back and there's competent QB play, we don't be able to evaluate what this team and what this new staff will be and they can actually open up the playbook.
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