Falcons vs. Lions: a quick look at the state of the franchise ahead of Week 7

It’s a strange, confusing time to be a Falcons fan. But we’re in this together. We aren’t going anywhere. At some point, hopefully in the not so distant future, this team will get back to being relevant. Whether that happens in one year, in several years, or in a decade remains to be seen.

How did we get here? After an impressive second half turnaround in 2019 and an ostensibly productive offseason, we got our hopes up. It’s that simple, and I am just as guilty as the rest of you. The writing was on the wall and all the signs were there, but we let Thomas Dimitroff’s propaganda machine delude us into thinking this team could be competitive in 2020. It was the functional equivalent of seeing the check engine light come and on and muttering, “screw it, let’s drive to California.” But the past is the past and all we can do now is move forward. At 1-5, the Falcons are staring down 2.5 more months of football during a lost season, and we have to live with that reality.

The search for meaning is key here. And let’s give some credit where credit is surely due: Raheem Morris did impressive work during his first week as interim head coach. We know he burned all the team’s t-shirts bearing cheesy slogans in effigy he took a hard-nosed approach that apparently got some of the players’ attention, which was a good start. And unless you’re dead set on tanking for Trevor Lawrence, the goal should be to get the most out of the current roster and essentially hold auditions for future roles with the team. It’d be nice to see the Falcons play spoiler and win some divisional games, but a single win over a hapless Vikings squad doesn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. The Falcons have a tough slate ahead, and they’ll need to earn every win they manage to pull off from here on out.

On the injury front, the Falcons are definitely headed in the right direction. Takk McKinley is questionable with the same groin injury that’s been plaguing him for some time now, but he was a limited participant in Friday’s practice, which is promising. Takk has a lot to play for and no one can question that man’s love for the game or competitive nature, so I’m sure he’ll find the field if he’s physically able.

No one missed Friday’s practice for injury-related reasons. (Deadrin Senat, Todd Gurley, Alex Mack, and James Carpenter sat out to get some rest.) Julio Jones has seemingly put his hamstring injury behind him, but he’s dealing with an elbow injury now. He was a limited participant in Friday’s practice, which bodes well. Evan Birchfield broke down the entire injury report, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Your thoughts about the current state of the franchise, Falcoholics?