In the middle of the night, the Falcons decided to move on from head coach Arthur Smith after three straight 7-10 seasons.
BREAKING OVERNIGHT: The #Falcons have fired head coach Arthur Smith after three losing seasons.
This morning on @GoodDayAtlanta I discussed what went in to that move by owner Arthur Blank and what names Atlanta might be looking at going forward.
The @FOX5Sports team will be on… pic.twitter.com/4rUjsejcsz
— Miles Garrett (@MilesGarrettTV) January 8, 2024
Four or five weeks ago, it didn’t even seem like firing Arthur Smith was on the table. The Falcons were heading into a matchup with the Buccaneers and had a chance to take a commanding lead in the division. If they had won that game, they likely would be preparing to play next week. Instead, Baker Mayfield delivered a dagger with a late touchdown.
Things would then spiral out of control from there. The Falcons would lose the following week to the one-win Panthers, which effectively dashed their playoff chances. There was one last glimpse of hope in Week 16 against the Colts, which was arguably their best performance of the season. However, the season ended with two blowout losses to the Bears and Saints on the road, two teams that will not be participating in the playoffs.
If a late-season collapse was really needed for Blank to move on from Arthur Smith, that’s exactly what he got. The Falcons finished the season losing four out of five with their playoff hopes on the line, three of which in humiliating fashion.
For the third consecutive season under Arthur Smith, the Falcons finished 7-10 and will pick eighth in the draft. If anything, the man is consistent. The Falcons have been the most consistently inconsistent team during Smith’s entire tenure. For the first couple of seasons, it was understandable. The team was getting out from under a mountain of dead cap and had a bottom five roster in the league. The fact that Arthur Smith was even able to squeeze out seven wins was impressive.
However, Arthur Blank said it himself this was a three-year plan, and year three couldn’t have gone any worse. The record was the same, but the investment in the roster was not. The Falcons spent gobs of cash overhauling the defense, which became a borderline top 10 unit, but it was Smith’s offense that faltered.
The Falcons opted to roll with Desmond Ridder as their starter, and the experiment failed miserably. He couldn’t help but give games away with untimely interceptions. But it was more than just Ridder that held the offense back. Arthur Smith failed to get the ball to his three top 10 draft picks, and his run schemes — which is what he’s known for — turned vanilla. The Falcons ran one of the most predictable offenses in the NFL and completely lost their identity as a smash mouth football team.
Deep down, I really do believe Blank wanted to hang onto Smith for one more year, but the Falcons head coach didn’t give him much of a choice. If anything, the Falcons regressed in 2023 despite having a significantly better roster. They played the worst schedule in the league and could still only manage seven wins, collapsing late in the season.
To make matters worse, Arthur Smith’s snarky attitude had run its course with the fan base. Coaches can be rude to the media and fans when they are winning, but when the results aren’t there, the people deserve answers, which Smith refused to provide.
Blank couldn’t sell the fans on Arthur Smith anymore. The stadium was empty from week to week, the product on the field was piss poor, and the Falcons managed to miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season in the worst division in football behind four losses in their final five games. It was time to move on, and Arthur Blank made the right decision by ripping the band aid off.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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