The Falcoholic
In Raheem Morris’s first season as the full-time head coach in Atlanta, the Falcons had one winning streak of three games and two winning streaks of two games. In the three seasons under Arthur Smith before that, they had four two game winning streaks; Morris had one in 2020 as the interim head coach. The last time they won four games in a row was 2019; you have to go all the way back to 2016 to find another one.
There is a story here, if you’re inclined to tell it, about inconsistency. There’s a story about a franchise that can never get it together for very long, and about how that inconsistency has become a hallmark of a franchise that has seven straight playoff-less seasons under its belt and is unnervingly on track for an eighth. I’m inclined to tell it.
The Falcons are baffling for any number of reasons, but one of the big ones is that they can’t seem to be a complete team…basically ever. In Week 1, the defense had some letdown moments and the run game was bottled. In Week 2, the defense was terrific, Bijan Robin and Tyler Allgeier ran all over the Vikings, and the passing game was forgettable. In Week 3, the defense was decent, Bijan was good, and everything else fell apart. This is not a three game story; it is a consistent story of inconsistency that stretches back a while. Hell, they even did it from half to half last year! This comes from a history of switching up coordinators and coaches, personnel and philosophies, and a million other smaller variables. It also shows itself in inconsistent efforts and success, an inability to prepare for an opponent in a way that makes sense, which is especially frustrating after a stellar effort.
Take the final two games of 2024, both of them losses. The offense was largely great, the defense stunk; this came after two wins in a row, one against the Raiders two weeks where the defense carried a listless offense over the line and one rare complete effort against the Giants. Earlier that year, against the Rams, the defense couldn’t do enough despite a stellar effort to overcome a terrible offense, which came after a six game stretch where the Falcons went 4-2 largely on the back of a standout offense and some opportunistic turnovers. Throughout much of the past several years, the defense has been letting Atlanta down, but too often when they’re excellent, the offense falls short like it did against the Buccaneers in 2023, Lions earlier in 2023, and Commanders and Steelers in 2022. Performances do not carry over from week to week; strong opponents can be handled with some aplomb but then weaker ones see the Falcons come out listless and never recover. The Falcons have been through four coaches and two general managers since the last time they made the playoffs, with a roster that has been 95% turned over in that span, and...
