The possible outcomes for the Falcons’ Week 18 season finale in New Orleans are hilariously opposites and old friend Matt Ryan will have a front row seat as the Atlanta great is set to call the game against the Saints for CBS.
It’s the regular season finale!
Game announcers for Week 18 of the @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/ZVflJiU2k8
— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) January 1, 2024
Ryan has begun his first season in the booth for CBS, and it couldn’t have gone better for him. He’s a natural and will be able to do it for a long time if he so chooses to. The Falcons 2023 campaign hasn’t gone as well.
Arthur Smith’s job security is in question as the club continues to underperform. They’re the most consistently inconsistent team in the league. Over a three week period, the Falcons lost to the worst team in football (the Panthers) then had the most impressive win of the season over the Colts and followed it up with another pathetic performance against a bad Bears team.
Smith strung together 14 wins in the first two seasons of his tenure, and expectations rose significantly in 2023 after the improvements Terry Fontenot made to the roster. Now, they sit in a similar position as they did a year ago and even two years ago when Matt Ryan was still in Atlanta.
After Smith’s first season with the Falcons, Ryan’s career was clearly coming to an end but the club didn’t address the quarterback position. That theme stayed consistent after the 2022 season, and the organization once again finds itself looking for Ryan’s long-term successor.
It’s a bit ironic. Matt Ryan ended his Falcons career under Arthur Smith, and he might watch his former head coach in his final game in Atlanta.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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