WATCH: Falcons' Dan Quinn may have three weeks to save his job
Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn entered the 2019 season with a mildly warm seat. It's now blazing hot after losing four of five games to begin the season. Three of the four losses have been by double digits.
After missing the playoffs in 2018, the Falcons replaced all three of their coordinators, and Quinn anointed himself defensive coordinator. But early this year, the defense has been Atlanta's biggest issue.
Through five weeks, the Falcons are ranked 27th in passing yards allowed per attempt, tied for second-to-last in passing touchdowns allowed, 27th in takeaways and tied for last in sacks. Simply put, the largest problem is the lack of pass rush. With only five sacks, the Falcons haven't been able to produce enough negatives plays or put pressure on the quarterback, forcing them to make bad throws or mistakes. Atlanta has zero sacks in the last two weeks and those two games were against weak pass protection teams.
The Falcons defense is arguably worse than last year under then defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel, who had to deal with injuries to both starting safeties and linebacker Deion Jones.
With things getting worse, Quinn's coaching seat is getting warmer in Atlanta. Fortunately for him, owner Arthur Blank publicly supported him after the Falcons' 53-32 loss at Houston in Week 5, but I'm not sure Blank's statement means much other than Quinn will remain the coach for at least one more week.
Looking at Atlanta's schedule, Blank's statement may buy Quinn three more games. That's how many the Falcons play before their bye week, which is the logical time to make a midseason coaching change. The three opponents Atlanta faces before its bye are the Cardinals on the road and then the Rams and Seahawks at home.
With a 1-4 start, it's an uphill battle to the postseason for Atlanta, but winning two of the next three to improve to 3-5 will keep the Falcons at least in the hunt for a playoff spot. Winning two of the next three may be what Atlanta needs to do in order to save Quinn's job.
