Atlanta Falcons Hammered in ESPN's Week 9 NFL Power Rankings

The Atlanta Falcons were embarrassed at home on Sunday vs. the previously 1-6 Miami Dolphins, whose only win had come against the winless New York Jets.

Last week, Atlanta lost on the road to the San Francisco 49ers in a game where they could muster little offense and just 10 points. ESPN's Week 8 NFL Power Rankings didn't punish the Falcons for losing to a good team on the road. Keeping the Falcons in their same No. 20 spot, even after the loss.

They took no such mercy for their Week 9 edition, after getting embarrassed at home by a team that looked like they were ready for the offseason the previous week.

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The Falcons were the biggest losers of the Week with a six-spot drop from No. 20 to No. 26. No one else fell more than two spots.

The offense was even worse against Miami than it was against the 49ers, as backup quarterback Kirk Cousins got his first playing time in almost a year and displayed exactly why the Falcons were never going to be able to trade him for an absurd asking price.

Raheem Morris's Vote of Confidence

Head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson have found themselves under fire since Sunday afternoon. On Monday, Morris backed Robinson, but the head coach is on thin ice himself.

“No. I’ve got so much confidence in Zac," Morris answered when asked if he was considering a change. "I know we can move the football. I know we’ve got the ability to do those things. We've been ranked as high as five, as low as whatever, but these guys can move the football.

"They’ve got a great plan. They do a really good job, and we’ve got a lot of confidence that we'll get it going. And we’ve got to get going this week. Every time you ride the up-and-down roller coaster of have a good game, have a bad game, have a good game, have a bad game, those questions are always going to be there.

"Those are always fair in the business that we're in, so those are the things that you’re always going to look at.”

The Falcons were in a similar crisis following another embarrassing loss in Week 3 to the Carolina Panthers. They followed it up with arguably their two best performances of the season in wins against the Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills.

They travel to Boston to take on the 6-2 Patriots before heading to Germany to face the red-hot 7-1 Indianapolis Colts in two games that looked considerably easier when the schedule was released over the summer.

Calls for change have reached a fever pitch in Atlanta, and Morris will have to find a way to find some sort of consistency against two of the NFL's surprise teams. Otherwise, it looks like an eighth-straight playoff-less season for the Atlanta Falcons... and another offseason of change.