Falcons - Cardinals: Reactions from The Falcoholic staff

How are we feeling about this Falcons team after their latest loss, this one to Arizona? If you thought we’d be in dark moods about it, you’re absolutely correct. Most of us are quite ready to see what comes after the current team and the current regime.

The Falcons are warping us

While there were bright spots in this game, it was hard to feel great about losing 34-33 to one of the worst teams in football, especially when you had chance after agonizing chance to win it. Maybe owing to the closeness of the game or the officiating mistakes, it was easy in those charged hours after the game to say that this team made some progress, fought like hell, etc.

The truth is that we’ve gone to a pretty dark place if we’re celebrating anything in a close loss to the Cardinals, who once again largely eviscerated a defense that hasn’t been able to keep this team in games for weeks now. As the offense finally gets going we have something worth watching, at least, but the truth is the Falcons are 1-5, on the road to firing everyone, and a brutally bad football team in 2019. The only hope we ought to be entertaining is hope for 2020, and at least that’ll carry us through the dark weeks to come. -Dave Choate

Ready for Change

This was the benchmark game for this coaching staff and this team. In particular, for head coach and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Come out of this one with a nice victory and stave off the execution. Lose? Well, it’s not just the loss itself. It’s the nature of it. Making yet another QB look like an All-Pro candidate with a healthier defense than what you had in 2018. Fielding a defense with 5 sacks in 6 games. Wasting away a year with young talent like Grady Jarrett and Deion Jones on your roster. Putting a defense on the field that is so bad that 33 points can’t secure a win.

It’s time for change. Whether it’s at the bye week (my prediction) or the end of the season, I’m ready for it. -David Walker

It’s tough to blame the refs or Matt Bryant for playing as bad as the Cardinals

The Falcons could have won on Sunday. Still, I don’t think that matters much. The Falcons were realistically already out of the playoff race. If they win, it’s because they just barely outplayed a struggling, rebuilding Cardinals team with a rookie head coach and quarterback. We are in year 5 of Dan Quinn. Even a narrow win is unacceptable and the Falcons can’t even manage that. - Matt Chambers

FALCONING

The Falcons are doing just that. This was another episode where they find a way to garner disappointment. While they fought hard and didn’t lay down, they struggled once again against a bottom tier team. At this point, Dan Quinn has to feel Arthur Blank staring holes into the back of his neck. Same with Thomas Dimitroff. The fan base is tired and extremely discouraged and to be honest, I don’t blame them one bit. - Eric Robinson

I’m running out of bad words to describe this defense

The Falcons have now scored 30+ points in two straight games. They’ve also lost both of those games. After an abysmal performance against the Titans, Koetter and Ryan seem to have righted the ship. The offensive scheme is still holding them back, but at least they look functional on that side of the ball. Meanwhile, the defense is in a death spiral. They seem to get worse every week, and Quinn’s refusal to make any schematic changes has led to a defense that every team in the NFL has figured out. This loss likely sealed his fate, and he has no one to blame but himself. - Kevin Knight