Facing a potential 1-3 start, the Falcons absolutely crumbled under the pressure, losing 24-10 at home to the Titans on Sunday.
It’s officially panic time in Atlanta. Here are five takeaways from the team’s potentially season-ending Week 4 loss.
Slow starts are killing the Falcons
After giving up a touchdown pass early in the first quarter, the Falcons responded with a nice drive that ended with an Ito Smith touchdown run to tie the game at seven. It was all downhill from there, though. Atlanta’s defense gave up three touchdown passes to Marcus Mariota in the first half while the offense was putrid, especially in the red zone. The team seemed lackadaisical again, even in front of its home crowd. Atlanta couldn’t even make its customary late-game comeback attempt.
Dan Quinn is officially on the hot seat
I’m always reluctant to say a head coach is on the hot seat and there is a ton of football to be played this season. Still, things can only wrong for so long. When you’re losing with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and have this much talent on defense, 1-3 is inexcusable. Dan Quinn can be a great coach when things are going well, but something just seems stale and lifeless about his team right now. Quinn will probably finish the regular season out, but if the Falcons keep losing like this, the front office won’t have much of a choice but to make a coaching change in 2020.
Sacks are still a problem
Sacks aren’t all they’re made out to be, but the Falcons defense just hasn’t capitalized on the pressure they’ve created. They finished with zero sacks on Sunday, despite the Titans giving up 17 in the three weeks prior. The team talked about needing to finish and yet they failed again on the field in Week 4. Something has got to give, or they’ll just keep losing winnable games.
The run game is a disaster
Devonta Freeman rushed 12 times for only 28 yards today. His backup Ito Smith got just two carries for 11 yards. The Falcons have become one-dimensional and a team that defenses can easily prepare for. With the weapons this team has, that’s absurd. Freeman hasn’t exactly had the holes to run through up front, but perhaps Smith should be getting more touches. It hasn’t been pretty no matter who you want to put the blame on.
Keanu Neal-less secondary not the same
The Falcons secondary was clearly not the same without safety Keanu Neal, who’s out for the season with an Achilles tear. The group gave up way too many big plays to the Titans’s mediocre wide receivers. A.J. Brown and Corey Davis each went for over 90 yards and a touchdown. Atlanta’s inability to stop the run didn’t make things any easier, allowing Derrick Henry to rush for 100 yards.
