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Are you extraordinarily disappointed in the 2019 Falcons? Well, that makes three of us — you, me, and Mr. Blank.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank spoke to the media following Sunday’s 27-20 loss to the Seahawks, and he said he sure didn’t see a 1-7 start coming for this team in 2019. But he’s not planning on making any immediate coaching changes.
Clip of Falcons Owner Arthur Blank speaking after the game. He said they will take the next few weeks to evaluate everything. He said he understands this is a results driven business. He also later said a key thing to keep in mind is that the players love Dan Quinn. pic.twitter.com/RD4CAHfZ7W
— Tiffany Blackmon (@tiffblackmon) October 27, 2019
“Nobody would have anticipated 1-7,” Blank said, “and the lack of consistency. Today was a prime example of that.”
It was indeed, but that doesn’t mean Dan Quinn’s time in Atlanta is definitely coming to an end.
“So we’ll take the next couple of weeks, this bye period of time, and evaluate where we are,” Blank said. “And whatever decision we have to make will be made for the right reasons for the long term.”
NFL Network’s Tiffany Blackmon noted in the tweet above that Blank also mentioned Falcons players’ ongoing support of Quinn. The team did show plenty of fight in the second half, and Julio Jones reportedly spoke out in the locker room in support of his head coach after last week’s loss. That player support may be enough to keep Quinn in place for the remainder of the season.
Realistically, this team is so bad that it’s unlikely a coaching change would result in a big turnaround. If anything, it might knock the team out of the running for a top draft selection. I’m not an advocate of tanking in professional sports, and I personally believe that you should always play to win — but I truly don’t know that this particular team is capable of winning, with Dan Quinn or anyone else at the helm. The season is lost, and the Falcons have nothing more to lose in 2019.
We’ll see what happens after the bye. But Blank’s comments, coupled with Blank’s earlier comments to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic about leaning toward not making a coaching change during the bye, suggest that Dan Quinn may not be going anywhere.
And honestly, it probably doesn’t even matter who’s coaching the Falcons for the rest of the season.