The New Orleans Saints suspended their best player after he punched a teammate at practice, but they aren’t even the most dysfunctional team in the NFC South. After going winless through the first five weeks of the 2020 season, the Atlanta Falcons announced Sunday evening that both head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff have been relieved of their duties.
It ends a 13-year tenure for Dimitroff as the team’s shot-caller; while his biggest move was a blockbuster trade to acquire wide receiver Julio Jones, he also hit on draft picks like quarterback Matt Ryan, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, and LSU Tigers linebacker Deion Jones.
And as for Quinn: he leaves Atlanta with a 43-42 regular season record as head coach, and a 3-2 postseason record (including a loss in Super Bowl LI, when his team lost after leading 28-3 late in the third quarter). He went 4-6 against the Saints since taking the Falcons job back in 2015.
So where do things go from here? The Falcons’ season is effectively over, and it isn’t immediately clear who will be named interim head coach, though defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is a logical pick. Team president and CEO Rich McKay will take over football operations in Dimitroff’s place, so there will be some continuity at the top.
But the Falcons are 0-5 and can’t spiral much further down to rock bottom. Expect the NFC South title race to be whittled down further to a three-team race between the 3-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 3-2 Carolina Panthers, and 2-2 Saints — who have a shot at improvement on Monday night. The Saints will see the new-look Falcons next on Nov. 22, playing them twice in three weeks (with a road trip against the Denver Broncos sandwiched in-between).
