5:32pm: Week 18 did not go as planned for the Falcons, with a 48-17 loss marking an emphatic end to the campaign. Given the nature of Atlanta’s finish to the season, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz provides the unsurprising update that this situation is pointing to a Smith dismissal. In such a scenario, the Falcons would join the Panthers as an NFC South squad in need of a new head coach during the upcoming hiring cycle.
8:24am: As of the time of this writing, the job status of Falcons head coach Arthur Smith is murky at best. Over the course of the past two months, we have heard reports suggesting that Smith is likely to get a fourth year on the job in 2024, as well as reports indicating that he is on the hot seat.
At the very least, it appears that owner Arthur Blank is not fully committed to Smith. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Blank is torn on how he should proceed, and he has “gone back and forth” on the matter (which helps to explain the vacillating reports). In case he does decide to part ways with Smith, Blank has explored what options might be available to him in the upcoming coaching cycle.
Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com also hear that Blank is considering a change, and that the owner has been calling his confidants within the league for advice. Should Atlanta, which is 1-4 over its past five games, defeat the Saints in today’s regular season finale, Rapoport and Pelissero say that Smith would stand a better chance of surviving Black Monday, even if the victory does not propel the club to a playoff spot (in addition to a win over New Orleans, the Falcons need the Panthers to upset the Bucs in order to qualify for a postseason berth). That is in keeping with a report from Albert Breer of SI.com just two days ago.
Smith and GM Terry Fontenot inherited a difficult salary cap and roster situation when Blank hired the duo in 2021, and the team has made considerable strides in terms of talent level on both sides of the ball. The problem has been the Falcons’ quarterback play, though Atlanta obviously has not landed a top-tier QB during the Fontenot-Smith partnership (the team’s attempts to acquire Deshaun Watson from the Texans during the 2022 offseason fell just short, which may have been a blessing in disguise). As Rapoport writes, the team will be taking a big swing on a signal-caller in the 2024 offseason regardless of who the head coach is, so perhaps Blank will give Smith — whose offensive acumen he greatly respects — one more shot to see what he can do with a more talented passer.
If Blank hands Smith his walking papers, Bill Belichick would be a legitimate candidate to replace him, per Rapoport and Pelissero. The prevailing opinion is that today’s game will be Belichick’s last as the Patriots’ HC, and his name has come up a great deal in conversations that the NFL.com duo has had with league sources about the Falcons’ future over the past week (Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, meanwhile, has been beating the Belichick-to-Atlanta drum for some time).
Assuming the Patriots and Belichick do end their relationship, the separation is expected to take weeks to finalize, which could further complicate Blank’s decision. Still, a team that appears to be a quarterback away from legitimate contention may be willing to roll the dice on a 72-year-old head coach, and Belichick, in turn, may believe that Atlanta gives him a real chance to overtake Don Shula for first place on the all-time coaching wins list (assuming the team does, in fact, add a high-end QB).
After watching Bill butcher his QB room the past 4 years, no way would let him build another QB room.
Somehow convince Ben Johnson to come here…trade a 2nd for Fields. Or sign Russell Wilson for 3 years and Hit the ground running….I get the negatives to both QBs but they’re better options then what we have, plus a Head coach upgrade, and hang on to draft capital mostly
All you need a is a competent QB to get the ball to your play makers. For some reason, Arthur seems to have soured on your triplets. Weird coaching.
I’d love Ben Johnson and fields. I’m so done with Arthur smith
Oh man, Techie, watch out for the onslaught now that you’ve said that! Or maybe they’ll get tired of continuously having to defend Belichick;can’t defend the results without Brady so the lean is to “all those rings”. Six rings won by a total margin of victory of 29 points. The supposedly “dominant” season? Finished 16-1, losing the last game.
Any team that hires Belichick will regret it. He can’t win anything without Brady. He will go .500 maximum for a couple years and then leave. And the worst part is he will make everyone miserable in the process.
Bill’s only interest is passing Shula. Nothing about building a team. But some team will bank on him. We all know it.
One would argue he needs to build a team to pass Shula. Those are not mutually exclusive goals.
Whatever they do just get rid of that putz Smith ASAP
Not a good look for him today, and that hissy fit after the game didn’t help his cause. Didn’t help Dennis Allen’s either in the post-game interviews when he threw his players under the bus. It’s your job to stop me, not mine…
For those who aren’t aware, Smith got rightly pissed cos the Saints scored a touchdown from victory formation. Karma came calling some 3 hours later when Green Bay won to clinch the last open playoff spot and knock New Orleans out.
Usually I agree with you, Chucky, and I see your point. I agree that if you take care of business in September, October, and November, December is for resting guys, playing backups that may be needed later, etc. Saints certainly brought this on themselves, and Karma is a bitch. However, as a college and high school coach for 40 years, it’s your job to stop me, not mine. Trust me, I’ve been on both sides. I hated it when it happened to me, but what’s disappointing is Allen throwing his players under the bus. You deflect, say it was a misunderstanding from the sideline, anything. It speaks to me that Allen has lost the locker room tbh
@sascoach: The issue is not that they’re running up the score. It’s that they did it out of the victory formation. If they ran the play in a normal formation, that’s fine. But the victory formation signals to everyone that you’re just taking a knee, ie, you can relax because the game is over and we all just want to get out of here without anyone getting hurt.
Remember a few years back when Greg Schiano’s defense smashed into Eli Manning taking a knee. Tom Coughlin was livid because you don’t do that. One side is telling you that they’re giving up the play. It’s sportsmanship. You can’t have the other side smashing into them and potentially injuring someone.
Upon further review, going under the hood, and having the 6th margaritas I will agree with you both. Poor sportsmanship on whoever audibled that call for the Saints. Enjoy yourselves guys.
Fire him already. We are sick of him. F%#%k Arthur smith
HE GONE!!
HALLELUJAH WE ARE FREE LMAO
No coach in the league wastes more talent. That was at least a 10 or 11 win team this year with better coaching.
FINALLY!!!!!
Yes we are free my brother lmao