FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — There has been no “Win now, or else” mandate from Falcons owner Arthur Blank to coach Arthur Smith in recent days. There won’t be. There shouldn’t be. Smith is not going to get fired this week, or next week, or anytime soon. In fact, the only way Smith isn’t back as the team’s coach in 2024 is if there’s evidence players are tuning him out (hasn’t happened), or the team completely unravels (not there, yet), or Smith suddenly embraces the reality that he could climb the corporate ladder at Federal Express, really, really, really fast.
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Sorry to smother the brush fires on social media.
But the Falcons are not a good football team right now and two people should be feeling considerable heat: One is Smith, who sold Blank on his vision for the offense and how to rebuild a roster. The other is general manager Terry Fontenot, the team’s co-builder. Atlanta has dropped six of its last eight games and is dragging a 4-6 record into its bye week, prompting fans to cry for his firing.
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Falcons enter their bye with a lot to figure out, starting with quarterback
Smith understands the criticism but he’s not consumed by it.
“I’m an old lineman — I’m used to getting my ass ripped,” he told The Athletic.
“In the old days, it was just you writing a column. Now there’s 7,000 forums for outrage. I get it. But you can’t worry about everything around you, things you can’t control. Like I said earlier, if you’re worried about that stuff, don’t sign up for professional sports.”
Blank has been quiet. His emotions still fluctuate as they did early in his ownership years but he’s far less likely to comment publicly on the ups and down of his football team now. He declined to comment for this column. But team sources say he has been supportive of Smith behind the scenes, even while it’s acknowledged he expects progress this season.
The fan outrage is understandable. After a two-plus year rebuild that saw the team go 14-20, the Falcons were expected to win in 2023, with a projected win total of at least nine. They would need to go 5-2 after the bye to achieve that. Smith’s decision to ride with Desmond Ridder coming into the season has not paid off, and with backup Taylor Heinicke suffering a hamstring injury in Sunday’s loss at Arizona it seems likely Ridder will start next week against the Saints. Playoff hopes likely ride or die with him.
Desmond Ridder gets another chance and takes advantage to put the @AtlantaFalcons ahead!
📺: #ATLvsAZ on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kECSNGc6Bj pic.twitter.com/0WdAq0K6pn
— NFL (@NFL) November 12, 2023
The Falcons have lost their last three games to mediocre teams — the Titans, Vikings and Cardinals — by 5, 3 and 2 points, respectively. In the final two-plus minutes of the last two defeats, they rallied to take leads, only to fall after watching Minnesota drive 75 yards to the winning touchdown and the Cardinals drive 74 yards to the deciding field goal. One week, they were beaten by the vagabond Josh Dobbs, who had passed through six NFL camps since 2022. The next week they were punched out by Kyler Murray, who hadn’t played a game in a year.
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“That’s what makes you sick to your stomach — we’ve had things on a platter for us and we didn’t make the play,” Smith said.
Here’s the problem: Good teams make those plays and win those games. He knows that. Blank knows that. The question is whether Smith, his staff and the players can make enough corrections and win enough games to win the NFC South, the Baltic Avenue of the NFL’s Monopoly board. The Bucs won the division with an 8-9 record last year. That could happen again.
But firing anybody right now would be premature, if not borderline foolish. Nobody who understands the roster churn and the salary cap pain of 2021 and 2022 would grade the coach on wins and losses in those two seasons. Progress and won-loss record absolutely matter this year but the season can only be graded in full, not after 10 games.
It’s worth noting Blank has fired a coach in-season only once — Dan Quinn, following a 0-5 start in 2020, and that was more a carryover from a slide in the previous two years. (Dan Reeves quit with three games left in the 2003 season after he pressed Blank on his status and learned he would not be retained after the season.)
Smith needs to fix the offense. The defense was strong in the early weeks but has been hurt by injuries, especially the loss of All-Pro Grady Jarrett. So more scoring, efficient quarterback play and more consistency in pass protection and run blocking are needed to overcome that. That’s all in Smith’s coach wheelhouse or should be.
The bye week is about reflection and self-evaluation. If Smith is planning any major changes, he’s not saying anything. But he’s not running from accountability.
“The offense and the quarterback get a lot of attention but it also goes back to looking at yourself as a head coach,” he said in his news conference. “There are things I can do to manage the game better. But ultimately I need to be a better head coach, too.
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“That’s not me trying to be a martyr. If you’re not getting the results you want … you look at what your process is.”
His confidence for a turnaround isn’t false. He sees most of the problems — turnovers, penalties, missed tackles — as fixable. Four of the six losses came down to the final seconds. The locker room hasn’t splintered. Some areas, like the red zone and the running game Sunday, have improved.
“If it was hopeless or morale was low, it’s completely different,” he said. “The results are what they are, but there’s true evidence that we can right this thing. If you’re sitting here trying to sell your dreams and you’re losing by 21, you’re kind of rolling your eyes.”
When asked about feeling pressure, he drew on his four years of Latin and said, “Amor fati,” which roughly translates to, “Love of one’s fate.”
“It’s kind of how you approach life,” he said. “It’s why I love this game. If you lose that perspective, shame on you. Embrace the good, the bad, the pressure.”
Blank will do nothing for now. But he won’t do nothing forever.
Here’s another Latin phrase Smith should be familiar with: “Acta, non verba.” Translation: “Deeds, not words.” Actions speak louder than words.
(Photo: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)
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