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The 4-4 Falcons head into Cleveland on Sunday for a date with the 2-6-1 Browns. Cleveland’s defense is incredibly banged up, so we can level with them in that regard. The Falcons have the opportunity to tally a winning record for the first time this season, so it will be up to the offense to capitalize on a wounded Cleveland team. With that, take a look at today’s edition of Falcoholinks.
The story in the snaps
Part of predicting what the Falcons will do in the future is looking at what they’ve done recently. The snap counts from Atlanta’s victory over Washington tell a couple of interesting stories; mainly that Foyesade Oluokun has eclipsed Duke Riley on the depth chart at middle linebacker and Sharrod Neasman is now the strong safety.
The defensive adjustments by Quinn have yielded encouraging results of late, and that unit will look to build on its recent good work against Browns.
The road to 10,000
Lack of touchdowns aside, Julio Jones puts up gaudy receiving numbers each and every year. He’s currently second in the NFL with 933 receiving yards through nine games, and on Sunday he has the opportunity to make some unique history. If he only records 13 yards against the Browns, Julio Jones will hit the 10,000 yard mark faster than any other receiver in league history. Bonkers.
Credit to Quinn, Coach of the Year?
Dan Quinn should be lauded for keeping the core of this team focused during the turmoil that defined the start of the season. Seemingly dead in the water at 1-4, the Falcons have rallied to .500 and have a slate of winnable games ahead on the docket.
If the Falcons make the playoffs, Dan Quinn could be the NFL's coach of the year.
— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) November 6, 2018
Column:https://t.co/IVAw9SJE3T
When teams begin a year as disastrously as the Falcons did, the typical rumblings begin to rise to the fore: a fractured locker room, acrimony, circular firing squads. Coach Quinn has kept this team tethered to the goal of overcoming the uncontrollable and executing on the field, and The Athletic’s Jeff Schultz is out with a new piece highlighting why Quinn deserves a boatload of credit and could be a Coach of the Year candidate.
The Falcoholic Postgame Podcast
To analyze the win over Washington, Falcoholic Postgame Podcast host Cory Woodroof was joined by Eric Robinson and Adnan Ikic. The offense again looked unstoppable, the defense held up its end of the bargain, and the Falcons head into Cleveland at an even 4-4. Give this week’s episode a listen, here.