Falcoholinks: All the Falcons news you need for Monday, Oct. 21

Go ahead and write the requiem for the Dan Quinn regime in Atlanta, because the shellacking at home against the Los Angeles Rams has likely sealed the deal. Bye week, after the season. Hell, who knows at this point. But it’s clear that some major changes will be coming to this franchise soon.

Here’s Falcoholinks while you ponder that coming reality.

Falcons - Rams recap

Dan Quinn’s job is definitely in jeopardy, and owner Arthur Blank provided some PR-friendly comments regarding Quinn’s Atlanta coaching future prior to the Falcons game against the Rams. Blank did not clearly rule out making a change during the bye week, but Quinn may have forced his hand with the Falcons’ embarrassing loss against the Rams yesterday.

The Falcons entered this contest having won 7 of the previous 8 against the Rams, but it was clear early in the second half that they would not come away from this one with a win. We were confident in the passing game humming along, but nothing would go right — including the ejection of Devonta Freeman for throwing a punch at Aaron Donald.

Matt Ryan would also leave the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury, just capping off an all-around awful Sunday afternoon.

Matt Ryan exits with an ankle injury

Matt Ryan has only missed two games in his entire career, and we’re crossing our fingers that number remains the same. Ryan exited Sunday’s game after taking a shot from Aaron Donald and was visibly limping as he headed to the locker room.

Matt Schaub would serve in mop-up duty, promptly throwing a garbage time touchdown pass to Austin Hooper.

We don’t have word yet on the severity of the injury to Matt Ryan, but we should know more in short order. Fingers firmly crossed.

Ito Smith leaves the game

This team doesn’t need any more injuries, but unfortunately running back Ito Smith would leave the game after taking a massive helmet-to-helmet hit in pass protection. He was leveled on the play, and the Falcons would bring out the cart to help him to the locker room. He would not return with head and neck injuries.

It certainly wasn’t pretty, and by the looks of it Ito could be missing some significant time.

Looking toward the future

With the Falcons season in tatters, one of the few positive things we can look forward to is a high position in the draft (unless of course, they manage to screw that up, too). Our Kevin Knight took an early look at some of positions and players who would fill a massive need for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Falcoholic Live

It’s been sad times around here of late, so after each and every game Kevin Knight hosts The Falcoholic Live post-game special for a bit of a cathartic release. If you happened to miss yesterday’s live broadcast, you can catch the full episode right here.