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It’s the second year in a row that Atlanta Falcons fans watch their hopes and dreams crushed by ineffective play-calling. This year, it’s Steve Sarkisian, who has danced the line between getting it and stunning incompetence. It was a bad year after seeing what essentially the same personnel was able to do in 2016.
We aren’t sure what will happen to the offensive coaching staff, other than adding a new quarterback coach. There were a lot of execution issues, and Dan Quinn may consider giving Sarkisian another year and hope for a second-year bounce back, a la Kyle Shanahan.
Whatever happens, people are still mad on Twitter.
Sad news coming from the @AtlantaFalcons tonight. #FireSark pic.twitter.com/YCnZNixKYD
— Justin Frazier (@JDFrazier) January 14, 2018
Falcons should have let Sark stay at Bama! Could you imagine all the happiness we'd have right now if he had? #FireSark
— Stacy Gray Hopkins (@DrGray10) January 14, 2018
Atlanta could have two world champions in one year? I like the sound of that.
I know Julio fell down but why roll Ryan and takeaway half the field? Why is a fullback flanked wide on the other side? What was that? #FireSark
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) January 14, 2018
In case anyone needs more reason for the @AtlantaFalcons to #FireSark one running back averaged 8 yards today and other averaged less than one but he still called the same number of plays for both pic.twitter.com/kyMp5Gu3cJ
— Chris Santiago (@CSantiago1001) January 14, 2018
I don’t want to suggest that coaching isn’t a very difficult job, full of countless considerations regarding matchups, personnel, game flow, schemes, tendencies, and numerous other things I don’t even understand. I do want to suggest that coaches can occasionally make it more difficult than it needs to be. Sarkisian has been guilty of this a lot this year by misusing his personnel.
Sarkisian has not been able to utilize Tevin Coleman at all this year, and even when he’s clearly the better running back, he refuses to play the hot hand. A related complaint you can see in this stat: why isn’t Tevin Coleman involved in the passing game?
Steve Sarkisian..... pic.twitter.com/xcRUcEVbm0
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) January 14, 2018
Watching Steve Sarkisian manage the #Falcons offense is like watching a 16 year old learn how to drive as they run over trash cans. #firesark
— sam miller (@samwise444) January 14, 2018
I don’t blame Sark, it’s not his fault he’s a teenager being thrown into a Ferrari. Failure on management to not hire someone more experienced.
— Evan Birchfield (@EvanBirchfield) January 14, 2018
I don't know about that series of play-calls with the game on the line. A 50/50 fade, a shovel pass, a slant and a scramble "alley-oop"... A season full of preparation for that? #ATLvsPHI
— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) January 14, 2018
The Falcons have had a number of must-win situations where Sarkisian has to pull out some high percentage plays, but it usually ended like this. I’ll never forget that jet sweep.
#Falcons' offense was a dumpster fire under Steve Sarkisian all season https://t.co/jRuXukjbl0
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) January 14, 2018
Ledbetter bringing the heat this morning!
Loss of words. Why the heck will you call a shovel pass with our 3rd string back?? Ridiculous play calling. I’ve said it since the beginning. #FireSark
— Nate The Great (@Nathan_Colston) January 14, 2018
with your season on the line. 1st and goal.
— ShockXvOrTeX (@Shockxvortex) January 14, 2018
1. fade
2. shovel pass to the 3rd string RB
3. slant
4. rollout#FireSark
there's nothing left to say
I’m not the “fire him” guy.
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) January 14, 2018
Steve Sarkisian can’t be back.
Can i get someone to please make a compilation of every toss play we ran that didn’t work? #FireSark
— matt waters (peace up a-town down) (@MattWaters9) January 14, 2018
The Steve Sarkisian Offensive Coordinator experience can be summarized by Al Michaels' "What was that?"
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger_sherman) January 14, 2018
Get #FireSark trending. He just can’t come back. Not with the amount of weapons that came back from last season. And for the love of God...DRAFT A QB!!! #MattRyan is nothing more than a grooming and mentoring asset on the back end of his career now.
— Mikey Big Rigs (@Darth_MikeyBR) January 14, 2018
If Steve Sarkisian was still at Alabama, he would have kept Tua Tagovailoa on the bench. Georgia would have won the title, Falcons would have won this game. Sark is Atlanta’s biggest nightmare since Sherman
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) January 14, 2018
i legit wanted sarkisian back for the sake of continuity and i genuinely thought he could be better next season, but that last sequence has me rethinking that
— Kendall Jackson, #1 Papa John's hater (@projectjax) January 14, 2018
Steve Sarkisian, coaching for his job, runs stretch at Brandon Graham. Cool cool.
— Robert Klemko (@RobertKlemko) January 14, 2018
If the Falcons make a move on Sarkisian, I wouldn’t expect it for a little while. He’s been bad, but I don’t think he’s been bad enough to be fired next day. They will probably take a step back, look at the season as a whole, consider available options, then make a choice. Until then, we have these tweets that cover all the different ways we’ve been disappointed this season.