Fire Arthur Smith? Why Are Falcons Waiting for A 'Possible Collapse'?
Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith has apparently been given a private "vote of confidence" from owner Arthur Blank in regards to Smith's 2024 job security.
That is a lovely and generous Christmas-time sentiment.
But it is an ugly and stubborn playoff-time sentiment.
There have been reports that Smith's job is "safe, barring a late-season collapse." That's quite a fudge, because this team that was deemed capable of winning a (relative) gimme title in the NFC South is - by definition of its 6-8 record - is in collapse.
A 6-8 record is poor. Remember?
The latest - but apparently not the last - straw? Coach Smith's guys spend Sunday in the rain at Carolina losing 7-6 to the NFL-worst Panthers. It was a game in a rainstorm nobody cared about - surely not the fans, who despite the availability of $10 tickets - which left the Falcons a grand opportunity to "care."
They performed as if they did not. And the head coach continues to operate in ways that demonstrate that he doesn't care enough, either.
"We'll still have that (playoff) opportunity, (but) it'll look like a long shot," Smith said, and why is it a long shot for a Falcons team that was/is planning to make the playoffs for the first time in six years?
Smith's unwillingness or inability to harness the talents of his last three high-pick, high-profile offensive weapons is a league-wide head-scratcher. That's right, Falcons fans; football people from other NFL teams are as mystified as you are that the Smith's season-long habits regarding his star talents remained unchanged, even against the hapless Panthers.
Kyle Pitts got four targets. Drake London got three targets. Bijan Robinson got seven carries - but was used as a lead blocker on somebody else's TD run.
Collected together, the ignorant misuse of that trio - in a game in which Atlanta scored but seven points - is a fireable offense.
What about Smith's body of work? The Falcons are 20-28 under Smith. They never win more than seven games, not even while having been gifted a slot in the bumbling NFC South.
Smith's job future should be tied to success in December. Period. Smith's job shouldn't be tied to a possible "collapse," and why not?
Because the "possible collapse" is already happening.
