Raheem Morris 'Loves Taking the Bullets' for Falcons' Struggles

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons have had a challenging season with five weeks remaining. At 4-8, the budding hopes of the summertime and goals of snapping what had been a seven-year playoff drought have long since passed.

With it, criticism from outside the building has naturally ramped up. The season has gone awry after the Falcons lost their sixth game of their last seven, this time to a struggling New York Jets team.

“I love taking the bullets for my guys,” head coach Raheem Morris said Wednesday. “That’ll never change. When a guy makes a mistake, what could I do better to help him? That’s the way we look at it as coaches. That’s the way we look at it as players.”

Those bullets have been flying over the last seven weeks. Fans and members of the media have been vocal about both the coaching staff and the players who take the field every Sunday.

Losses have been mounting for this team, week by week. Whether it is on the progression of their now-injured second-year quarterback, the inefficiency of their play-caller, or just the general self-inflicted errors from this team, the finger can’t be pointed anywhere else but inward.

But Morris is not in the business of playing that blame game.

“There is an accountability to all of us,” he said. “We all have the accountability in this game. We’re entertainers, and our job is to go entertain. But at the same time, finger-pointing and absolutely being honest with each other are two different things. I’ll always be honest, but I’m never going to point fingers.”

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The losses have been tight for Atlanta – four losses have come by three points or less, they are 0-2 in overtime games, and three of their last four games (all losses) have come down to the final play, but that will not help them feel better about the shortcomings in 2025.

Margins are always thin in this league, but the Falcons have not put themselves in a position to take advantage of their winnable games.

Hard truths were shared on Monday, but at 4-8, it may be too late to turn those lumps of coal into diamonds. The Falcons will look to move forward and attack the final five weeks of their season, starting with a 9-3 Seattle Seahawks team coming to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Week 14.