Bleacher Report grades Arthur Smith and rest of rookie head coaches through four weeks

The Falcons’ rookie head coach Arthur Smith is off to a slow start, losing three of his first four games. Arthur Blank hired Smith for his offensive acumen and ability to get the most out of his players. Through Week 4, the Falcons haven’t had much success at all in those areas. Outside of the Washington game, the offense has been abysmal.

The team is taking steps in the right direction, but they have to show more urgency in winning right now. Clearly, this roster isn’t talented enough to win when it matters in the playoffs, but to show Smith has a plan that can succeed is what’s valuable. I wouldn’t say Smith is off to a great start in proving he knows what he’s doing, but Chris Roling of Belcher Report sees things differently in his grading of every rookie head coach in the NFL.

Arthur Smith looked on the fast track to being a one-and-done coach after a collapse right out of the gate in Week 1 as his Atlanta Falcons ate a 32-6 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Smith can at least be forgiven for following that up with a 48-25 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers before evening out somewhat with a 17-14 win over the New York Giants in Week 3 and a 34-30 loss to Washington in Week 4.

The problem for Smith is expectations. He’s the offensive guru who got the most out of Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee, so it seemed certain he’d unlock a Matt Ryan-directed offense. Sure, the front office saddled him with this weird mixture of rebuilding and win-now moves (trading Julio Jones, drafting Kyle Pitts fourth overall) and a bad defense, but an elite offense was almost a guarantee, right?

Through four games that hasn’t been the case. Ryan has thrown eight scores (half of which came in the Week 4 loss) against three interceptions while averaging fewer than seven yards per attempt in each game (he averages 7.5 for his career). Pitts hasn’t been overly visible, registering over 50 yards in a game once with no touchdowns.

Cautiously optimistic was the best way to approach the Falcons this year. But the results point to an even bigger roster reset and rebuild, not a flirtation with a playoff spot.

Grade: C

Roling graded the rest of the rookie head coaches as so:

• Arthur Smith, Falcons — C
• Dan Campbell, Lion — C
• David Culley, Texans — C+
• Urban Meyer, Jaguars — D
• Brandon Staley, Chargers — A
• Nick Sirianni, Eagles — C
• Robert Saleh, Jets — C-

The Falcons have seemingly improved in one facet or another each week of the 2021 season, but the fan base is as unconfident as ever in Smith being the answer. If he can’t pull out a win this week across the pond against the Jets, there aren’t many winnable games left on the schedule. If there were ever a must-win game in Week 5, it would be this one because Smith could lose the fanbase with another stinker.