The Falcoholic
The Atlanta Falcons finally beat a team they were supposed to. Their three previous wins this year had come against Vikings and Bills teams expected to be far better than they actually are and the Commanders before they came apart completely, while their losses came to the Panthers (twice!) and hapless Dolphins, as well as a few good teams. The Saints represented yet another bottom feeder, but this time Atlanta actually won.
Now what? The Falcons keep the softest stretch of their schedule going with a matchup against the New York Jets. They’re one of four teams with two wins and jockeying for the first overall pick, competing against the likes of the Saints, the Giants, the Raiders, and the 1-10 Titans. They are a terrible team, and the Falcons must beat them to show last week was not a fluke. Full stop, end of story.
Can they do it? Let’s look ahead to this week’s matchup.
The Jets and Falcons have quite similar defenses, though the Jets have allowed many more points than Atlanta. What really separates these two teams—you’ll note they’re also discouragingly close in scoring—is the passing game and turnovers. The Jets are one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL while the Falcons are merely mediocre, but the bigger deal is that the Jets basically do no force turnovers and are much more generous about doling them out than Atlanta.
So much it’s almost not worth recounting, especially since the last time the Falcons saw them. Suffice to say this is a very different Jets team than it was a year ago or two years ago, and will be a very different Jets team next year.
Aaron Glenn is the new head coach, Justin Fields was the new quarterback before Tyrod Taylor took over, Quinnen Williams is gone, and the team used free agency and the draft to try to bring the floor of the roster up significantly; that hasn’t really happened. There are promising rookies here—I like tackle Armand Membou and tight end Mason Taylor quite a bit—and everyone’s played at least a little bit in their first season. But the Jets need at least one and probably two offseasons of major acquisitions to substantially improve one of the league’s worst rosters.
The thing with the Jets, of course, is that it’s really a question of how things have changed organizationally. Woody Johnson and his kids are some of the biggest meddlers and least patient, knowledgeable owners in the league, which has meant an ever-churning cycle of mediocrity or worse for this franchise. If Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey get time and use their draft picks wisely, perhaps they can break out of it. It just won’t be this year.
This is another one the Falcons have to win and should win.
The Jets probably have a higher passing game floor with Tyrod Taylor, who is still a...
