Now that the Atlanta Falcons have dashed any hopes for a second half of the season revival with their loss last week to the New York Jets, they can get that monkey off their back of competing for a playoff berth and do what they do best … play spoiler.
There are a lot of things that have gone wrong for the Falcons this season, which is a common pattern for this struggling organization. Losing second-year quarterback Michael Penix and having to turn to veteran Kirk Cousins to run their offense was a major blow. But there is another self-inflicted wound that Atlanta is saddled with, head coach Raheem Morris.
I am not routinely one to knock head coaches to the point of calling for them to lose their job. I’ve worked with coaches in three professional sports and have the utmost respect for the challenges they confront on a number of fronts let alone the task of simply doing their job.
Head coaches have to listen to fan chatter telling them how to do their job, player demands and ownership and management groups that aren’t interested in excuses or even reasons that have merit, only results. Every team is looking to get a “W” each week, and only half of them do.
But just as it pained me to see talent in San Diego and later Los Angeles go to waste while the Chargers were led by an inept coach, I have to call the job Morris is doing in Atlanta a primary reason they have lost twice as many games as they have won this season.
The Falcons have talent on both sides of the ball, and this team should be able to win even with Kirk Cousins running their offense.