The Falcons still have their sights set on the NFC South title, but their hopes were dashed Sunday with a 9-7 loss to the Panthers.
Atlanta gained just 204 yards, with Tyler Allgaier playing about the same number of snaps as first-round pick Bijan Robinson and adding seven touches. The Falcons benched Desmond Ridder for the second time this season.
Coach Arthur Smith is in the spotlight.
Owner Arthur Blank spoke about Smith’s future in an interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Jeff Harlinger on Tuesday.
Coach Blank hasn’t been enthusiastic about Smith’s fourth season, but he needs a win to avoid a third consecutive losing season.
“We are committed to coaching Smith,” Blank told Hallinger. “We will play the remaining three games. we are committed to winning. We’re going to get through the season and go from there. Clearly, this year has not been what we expected. Coach Smith will tell you that. You’ll hear it from our fans and our players. we understand that. We understand the challenges. At the end of the year we will assess where we are and go from there.”
Hallinger went on to ask if the Falcons need to make the playoffs to save Smith’s job.
“No, that was never really a requirement,” Blank said. “We needed a more competitive team this year. I think throughout this part of the season, we’ve had a lot of different situations, to be honest. I think so, and the coach would say that too. Arthur is very honest. , very… because he looks at himself very critically, he comes from a beautiful family with great values, and he reflects those values in his leadership to the fullest. That’s why the season We’ll see how it develops and go from there.”
Smith is 20-28 and the Falcons have started four quarterbacks in his three seasons. The Falcons are in their current situation because they were unable to find a capable replacement for Matt Ryan, who has struggled over his last few seasons in Atlanta.
They haven’t made the playoffs since 2017, and their last two games have both been losses to divisional opponents, so it’s unlikely they’ll make the playoffs again this year. So in addition to continuing their search for a franchise quarterback, the Falcons could also look for another head coach during the offseason.