Falcoholinks: All the Falcons news you need for Tuesday, Sept. 25

Well, Falcoholics, things aren’t so hot right now.

The Atlanta Falcons sit at 1-2, having lost to the dastardly ‘Aints in a close one, and the heart and soul of the defense, FS Ricardo Allen, is now on injured reserve after tearing his Achilles.

It’s a tough pill to swallow after all the other injuries that have set in, though we must trudge on with the season as it stands.

Life Without Rico

As Allen lands on IR, the Falcons must figure out how to proceed from here. Our Matt Chambers came up with some ideas of what the team could do to to help boost the injury-plagued defense that are worth considering.

Dave gave the tough diagnosis Sunday of what losing Allen would mean for this defense.

Dan Quinn provided his snapshot of what the lineup would look like without Rico, naming Damontae Kazee and Jordan Richards the starting free and strong safeties, respectively.

He also nixed the possibility of adding a new face from outside the organization for now, to the chagrin of many who feel that a name like Eric Reid would be a good stopgap solution for 2018. The pressure’s on Kazee and Richards (and perhaps even Keith Tandy or Kemal Ishmael) to perform.

The head coach also shared his thoughts on losing Allen for the year and what he hoped his guys would do going forward to honor him.

The Falcoholic’s Week 3 Greatest Hits

Our team of fearless Falcoholic scribes broke down exactly happened Sunday, including Dave’s opinion of the outing, our weekly three takeaways from DW, Kenny’s three Falcons up/three Falcons down, a Falcons fantasy stud and dud from Adnan, Allen’s in-depth analysis of the outcome and our picks for offensive and defensive players of the week. You can vote in those last two one stories to let your voice be heard!

If you’d care to wax poetic, Dave sums up rather eloquently why Sunday’s loss was stirring reminder of what it means to be human, and I try to weave a tale of why a game like Sunday defines what it means to be a Falcons fan.

We’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell shared a grim statistic about the Falcons ability to cover running backs in the last two weeks that warrants a quick look.

You don’t need me to tell you that this isn’t good, and the onus is on this current group of linebackers and this coaching staff to figure out how to stop running back passing targets, and fast. Maybe they can use Tevin Coleman in practice this week to get things shored up?

As Barnwell notes, Gio Bernard awaits with Cincinnati. You know the Bengals will attack this flaw in Atlanta’s defense, so here’s hoping they tighten this up before Sunday.

At least Le’Veon Bell hasn’t showed up to Pittsburgh yet?

Tackle, Already!

This Sunday stat from Pro Football Focus needs no introduction.

You can probably guess what the focus in practice this week will be.

Avengers: Age of Troll-tron

Well, at least this wonderful Falcons fan got to troll actor and Saints fan Anthony Mackie while he was at the Benz Sunday.

How dare the literal Falcon cheer for the ‘Aints!

Don’t worry, bud, your dad is proud of you for defending your Dirty Birds. We are, too.

So, that’s your morning in Falcoholinks. Put a pep in your Falcony step, and we’ll see you bright and early tomorrow with another edition.