The Atlanta Falcons have gone from a popular pick to win the NFC South to a team that just lost to the Joshua Dobbs-led Minnesota Vikings.
Yes, Dobbs joined the Vikings less than a week ago to offer depth behind rookie quarterback Jaren Hall and somehow orchestrated a comeback win in Atlanta over the Falcons when he got into the game.
As impressive the win was for Minnesota, Atlanta must reckon with the fact that this is as bad a loss as you’re likely to find in the NFL this season.
Things have gotten so bad for the Falcons that a restless head coach Arthur Smith shaved his mustache after Sunday’s loss in the middle of the night.
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith shaved his mustache at 3:45 a.m. Couldn't sleep. Calling it a "turnover cleanse."
— Terrin Waack (@TerrinWaack) November 6, 2023
Even though his offense put up a season-high 28 points against a frisky Vikings defense, too many of those points came on the foot of clutch kicker Younghoe Koo.
The team’s offense stalled out too many times after moving the ball into Minnesota territory and even lost out on a gimme touchdown after a defensive turnover put the Falcons a yard out from scoring.
Stellar rookie running back Bijan Robinson wasn’t even on the field during this short-yardage red zone situation.
The Falcons just forced a fumble and returned it to the Vikings' 1-yard line.
The subsequent plays:
1st & goal: False start
1st & goal: Pass to Jonnu Smith
2nd & goal: End around to Jonnu Smith
3rd & goal: Handoff to Tyler AllgeierBijan Robinson was off the field for ever…
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 5, 2023
Atlanta’s offense is having a disastrous year with trying to find the end zone, and three of its four wins this season have come on last-minute field goals from Koo.
The Falcons are 25th in scoring and three of their four victories have come by three points or less. Younghoe Koo is tied for the league lead in field goals with 20, so he's propping up that number quite a bit
With a less adept kicker, we might've hit the panic button weeks ago https://t.co/z3BaP0IBOp
— The Falcoholic (@TheFalcoholic) November 6, 2023
The NFC South has no juggernauts, and Atlanta’s 2-0 division record will keep it alive despite losing five of its last seven games. After weeks of wondering why the Falcons are losing to lesser opponents, it’s now time to wonder if the team is just one of the league’s lesser challenges.
Posting up a losing record and/or losing the division could keep Atlanta’s postseason drought going into six seasons, and that might be enough for owner Arthur Blank to make aggressive changes in the coaching department.
Smith’s offense has supremely disappointed this season, with second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder struggling with turnovers and journeyman quarterback Taylor Heinicke not looking much better on Sunday.
A lack of good quarterback play never makes a play caller’s life easy, but the run game was supposed to be Atlanta’s bread and butter, particularly after drafting Robinson this past April. However, the run game has noticeably dropped off, especially in the blocking department, from a year ago.
Smith was hired back in 2021 to bring an explosive offense to Atlanta in the midst of a very difficult rebuild. While his first two years on the job produced more wins than expected, his offense feels like it’s going backwards with more talent and more experience in the scheme.
While you can argue the team’s quarterback situation might be more circumstantial than not, the Falcons are still getting limited returns from a highly paid offensive line and are not featuring top talents like Robinson, tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receiver Drake London enough consistently.
You never want to openly call for someone to lose their job, but it’s be wrong to speculate anything else than Smith will be coaching for his job over these next eight games. He’s a smart offensive head coach in the third year of his tenure, but he’s fielding a floundering offense. He’s going to have to figure out how to get more points on the board and settle down the quarterback spot to get wins.
The team’s defense has made definite strides this year, and it’s on Smith to figure out how to finally get this loaded offense going. If he can’t by the end of the season, Atlanta might be a popular destination for offense-minded head coaching candidates who would love to have so many talented offensive players on the roster.
Mustache or not, Smith’s seat is going to get warmer the longer his offense sputters and his team keeps losing games they should win. If this doesn’t get better, big changes will be coming to Atlanta this winter.
