Why do the Atlanta Falcons suck?

It is no secret that the Falcons are horrible this season. In the wake of starting 0-5, they fired head coach Dan Quinn after five seasons. His time at Atlanta can be summed up with two numbers: 28-3. The Falcons are now 2-6 and it would take a true miracle for them to even sniff the playoffs but how did we get to this point? We can start by looking at last season. 

Last season summary

The 2019 season was very mediocre as they went 7-9 but it could’ve been a lot worse. They went into their bye week 1-7 and managed to win six of their last eight games (most of them were against non-playoff teams but a W is a W.) Matt Ryan was decent enough; Devonta Freeman was a shell of himself coming off his injury-riddled 2018 campaign; Calvin Ridley had a breakout season and Julio Jones was, well, Julio Jones. Their defense was slightly improved but the collapse they suffered after 2016 was even more apparent. Dan Quinn missed Kyle Shanahan more than I miss leaving the house without my mask and it has been showing. 

Fun Fact: The Falcons’ defense was tied for 7th in the league for fewest plays allowed (985) but, of those plays, 42.8% of them ended up with their opponents scoring which was the 2nd highest in the league. 

So what’s going on?

The 2020 season has been nothing but torture for the players, coaches, and fans as the Falcons seem to be addicted to choking away leads. They're suffering from Falcons’ Murphy’s Law: “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.” However, unlike with the Vikings, I don’t think their quarterback is entirely to blame. Matt Ryan is doing a good enough job airing it out. He’s posting his best QBR (75.8) since his MVP season in 2016 (I forgot he won an MVP lmao) and he and his wide receivers are the only reason this team is relatively competitive. However, I do believe we can look at three reasons why they are where they are.

1. Their Defense 

It’s no secret how atrocious the Falcons’ defense has been since their Super Bowl run in 2016. Their defense has always been their Achilles heel as no matter how many points Ryan and company put up or the size of the lead, it’s almost a guarantee that they would never hold on to it, and that hasn’t changed this season. 

Atlanta’s defense has been very nice to opposing offenses this season as they have allowed them to run up the score without much resistance. They’ve allowed 30 points or more on four occasions and only held a team to under 20 points once (Panthers in week 8) in their eight games played this season.  They’ve allowed the most yards in the league with 3285 but that mainly comes through the air. Their pass defense has been deplorable as they have allowed the most passing touchdowns (20) and the 2nd most passing yards (2491) in the league. 

Their defensive woes can be attributed to the fact that they are unable to get at their opponent’s quarterback. The Falcons are 24th in the league in total sacks (13) although they’re  5th in the league in terms of total pressures and blitzes.  They’re getting hurries and knockdowns still, but for some reason, they’re always a split second too late and they can’t seem to finish the job. It could be due to the secondary not being able to cover for long enough or taking too long to get to the quarterback but either way, this is a serious problem. 

Atlanta’s biggest problem for the last decade was that they never had an elite pass rusher, the only exception was Vic Beasley in 2016 when they went to the Superbowl. Injuries aside, they need to make some changes to their scheme to get to the quarterback quicker so their pressures can turn into sacks. Speaking of scheme changes, this bleeds perfectly into my next point.

2. Dan Quinn

So, the Dan Quinn firing was the right move. He was also an average coach, who was able to coast by thanks to the talent around him for years. He was the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks in 2013-14 (during their Super Bowl run) before getting the HC job at Atlanta. 

The main reason he got that job was that he was seen as a defensive genius because he was the play-caller for the “Legion of Boom,” but the problem he had was that he tried to copy and paste the same scheme in Atlanta without the same personnel.  Gus Bradley ran into the same problem when he had his stint with the Jaguars, if you try to run a system without the proper players you’ll always fail. Quinn’s unchanging defensive schemes in certain situations and his conservative play calling when he has a lead is what ultimately led to his firing. 

Another reason why it was the right decision to let him go was that I think his words ran stale in the locker room. After the choking in the Superbowl, two 7-9 seasons, another 0-5 start, and numerous blown leads, I can imagine that his attempts of rallying the troops began to fall on deaf ears. Sometimes players need to hear the same things from somebody else for it to have an effect. As the wise French Montana once said, “change is good for everybody.”

3. Choking big leads.

Growing up my father always had a saying whenever I did something wrong more than once. He said, “Son, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence but three times is a habit and that’s where it becomes a problem.” I think that saying perfectly sums up the Falcons this season as they always somehow end up stumbling on the final hurdle before they reach the finish line. 

The shadow of the blown 28-3 lead in SuperBowl four years ago is still looming over this team and has become a big part of their 2020 season. On three occasions the Falcons have had leads late in the 4th quarter only to see it vanish for one reason or the other.

Against the Cowboys, it was because their team forgot how to pick up a football. Against the Bears, it’s because the backup god “Big Dick” Nick Foles subbed in for Mitchell Trubisky and lit them up. Against the Lions, it’s because Todd Gurley couldn’t let down fantasy owners and decided to cross the goal line instead of stopping before running down the clock and kicking a game-winning field goal. Then again knowing the Falcons they probably would’ve ended up missing it, You know how Falcons’ Law goes. 

But aside from poor defense and the suspect coaching of Dan Quinn, I do believe that these three games have ruined the Atlanta Falcons season altogether. Football at the end of the day is about wins and losses, you are what your record says you are. They could’ve been 5-3 and competing for an NFC playoff berth, however, the 28-3 Super Bowl disaster still haunts this franchise as we see it rare its ugly head time and time again. 

We often hear that history repeats itself but how often is it that history repeats itself three times in one season I wonder. It’s a beautiful tragedy which sums up the Dan Quinn era in the Atlanta Falcons perfectly

Final Thoughts 

The defense showed signs of life against the Panthers in week 8 so hopefully, that carries into the rest of the season. Am I confident that it will? Absolutely not, it’s Atlanta after all, but I don’t mind being wrong. They should be in rebuild mode, but that's going to be easier said than done, but that’s a different topic for a different piece. 

Hey all you Falcons fans, want to celebrate the end of the Dan Quinn era? Why not do it in style with some fresh merch from Fanatics, the global leader for licensed sports merchandise. Check out my link below to see their wide range of Atlanta Falcons’ gear and while you're there feel free to check out the merch from all your other favorite teams and players. Right now they’re offering 60% off selected items storewide so what are you waiting for? Now is as good a time as any to, in the words of Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle, “treat yo self.”

Link: https://fanatics.ncw6.net/vXRVd

Read More

Why do the Minnesota Vikings suck?

 

Welcome to my new blog series guys, before we dive into it, I just want to go over two things. Firstly, I won’t focus on the pandemic as every team had to deal with the same challenges it brought. Secondly, I will only be doing teams that have surprised me with their poor performance, teams who I had either making the playoffs or being at least respectable, so no Jets or Giants in this series. So now let’s investigate why the Vikings suck so much after the first three weeks.

 

Last Season Summary

 

This team went 10-6 and in the postseason that went to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and got the W over the Saints. Just going off last year, their defence was borderline top ten in the league and the most disciplined as they were only penalised 83 times. Their offence was also impressive as they relied more on their running game with Dalvin Cook, which allowed Kirk Cousins to be more effective through the air. Sure, his stats took a hit with him posting career lows in yards, completions and attempts however this also led him to be arguably more effective, throwing a career-low six interceptions and only being sacked 28 times (tied 5^th best in the league). He posted his best quarterback rating ever of 107.4 and had his best QBR since his 2016 season with 61.7.

 

Fun Fact #1 – One stat that was insane to me was that last season, the Vikings defence was tied for 5th in total sacks with 48, yet they did that on only 21.7% of quarterback pressures per drop back, which was by far the lowest out of the teams in the top 10.

 

So, what’s going on?

 

The Vikings are a dismal 0-3, losing games to the Packers, Colts and Titans as the team is a shell of its former self. Kirk Cousins is allergic to making good passes and their defence is staying six feet away from their opponents. Let’s exam the three major factors that are contributing to their poor performance.:

 

First, I’ll start with the defence and I’m going be real with you guys, I’m not too mad at them. They lost a lot of their key starters this offseason like Xavier Rhodes, Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Trae Waynes and Stephen Weatherly. Losing most of your veteran starters will likely cause any defence to fall off so it would make sense why they’re the 3^rd worst defence in the league in terms of total yards allowed. Out of their 25 players on defence only six of those players have been in the league for more than four years. So, the defence is young and inexperienced, and I can only assume it will get better over time, so I shall give them a bligh.

 

Fun Fact #2 – The average years in the league for their entire 52-man roster is only 3, which goes to show you how young this team is on both sides of the ball.

 

The 2^nd reason for the team’s struggles is their horrible offensive line. Last season their o-line wasn’t anything too special, but they did their job well enough, but their line went through some changes last offseason. They released Josh Kline (G), Pat Elflein (LG/C) injured his thumb week 1 while their replacements Dakota Dozier and Dru Samia are playing terribly. This has caused Kirk to feel more pressure than he’s felt in a while. In just three games, he’s been sacked seven times and he’s been pressured on 34.4% of dropbacks which is way up from last year’s 22%.

 

Although both problems mentioned above are valid “excuses” for Vikings fans to blame their winless start on, there’s one far greater problem. The man I am giving the biggest piece of the blame pie to is Captain Kirk himself.

 

Is he good quarterback? For real somebody needs to tell me, because I can never decide, my answer changes every year.  If you just look at his stats then you’ll probably assume he is and that’s fair, he does have truly amazing numbers, but does he contribute to winning football? He’s like the Russell Westbrook of the NFL because you watch his numbers and you think, “he’s great,” but when you watch him play you constantly question the decisions that he makes. I don’t think he’s stat-padding, but it kind of seems like it.

 

I wouldn’t have a problem with him if he was being paid like an average quarterback, but he isn’t. He's the 7^th highest paid QB in the league in terms of average money ($33 million a year) and I don’t think he makes the team better. He found success with the Vikings last year because he was handing it off to Cook, thus lightening his load. But when he had to carry the team on his back, he has fallen short more times than he found success. He’s being paid elite quarterback money but he’s not. He’s not bad, I mean he’s only behind Drew Brees in terms of career completion % so he can make throws with accuracy. To me, he can’t consistently elevate his game and lead them to victory in big moments.

 

The 6 QBs that are paid more than him (Mahomes, Watson, Wilson, Roethlisberger, Rodgers and Goff) are a combined 15-4 (Watson had to face three of the best teams to start, so I’ll let him off the hook.) These quarterbacks are all paid the big bucks for a reason because they’re the best in the league and have and can lead their team to a victory almost singlehandedly (Goff may be an exception but this isn’t his roast.) Did you really have to pay him $66 million over the next two years if your team is most successful when they’re relying on the run game?

 

So, my answer to the age-old question, “is Kirk Cousins good?” is not really. Now that I say that he’ll probably go on a tear and I’ll have to change my answer once again thus continuing this never-ending cycle.

 

Final Thoughts

 

On the defensive side, I trust that Zimmer can whip his defence into shape, so I hope they’ll be middle of the pack by season’s end. On offence, you just hope that Pat Elflein comes back soon, and their guard play improves even if it’s only by a bit. Finally, just give the damn ball to Dalvin Cook, the less Kirk throws it, the better.

 

PS – Remember when Steffon Diggs wanted a trade in the middle of last season, I thought he was crazy. I mean he was balling on the Vikings why would he want to leave. He seemed to be the smartest man in that locker room because he got out at the right time.

 

PPS – I started writing this before Week 4 and they ended up beating the Texans, so congratulations on doing your jobs guys.

Read More