Falcons: Will Arthur Smith be fired on 'Black Monday?'

Everyone refers to the day after the NFL regular season ends as 'Black Monday.' It is a time when we see many head coaches get fired after failed expectations.

The Atlanta Falcons are certainly going to be a team that is talked about the night before or the morning of. Head coach Arthur Smith is sitting on a hot seat and owner Arthur Blank could decide to fire the man he hired two years ago, but will that happen?

Will Arthur Smith be canned by the Atlanta Falcons on 'Black Monday'

You never like to see anyone lose their job but as the person who is the subject of this piece said, you get paid a lot of money and do not take the job if you cannot handle the insecurity. Sometimes the clock runs out for these guys and fans certainly think that is the case with Arthur Smith.

The Atlanta Falcons hired Arthur Smith in 2021 hoping he would lead a team that would exceed expectations and start winning. Instead, he has had three straight losing seasons and has shown no improvement from year to year.

To start the 2023 season, it appeared that Smith would find himself back in 2024. But it sounds like Arthur Blank has not been impressed with the team he owns, and it all falls on the head coach.

Blank might be taking his decision down to the wire. Could the decision come down to a win or lose in the season finale? Could it ride on them making the playoffs or not? Or is Blank just done with Smith and his job isn't salvageable?

Well, there is only one person that can answer that and that is the multi-billionaire upstairs.

But what I believe is that a week 18 loss will result in the firing of Smith. The question is whether a win would save Smith and I believe that depends on what Blank watches on Sunday.

If it is another one of those rough-and-tumble wins that we have seen all year, I don't know how much a win would help Smith. If it is a blowout like the Colts game (but with more touchdowns) against the rival Saints then he would likely return on a short leash.

I do think that it is more likely than not that Arthur Smith gets fired. All the things we have seen and heard from Arthur Blank aren't good if you are Smith. I also firmly believe that finding a new head coach is in the best interest of the team—no matter if the players fully support him. The scheme isn't going to get any better and a high-level quarterback isn't going to make them a Super Bowl-caliber team because of that.