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Enjoy the bye week? Yes, us too. But we’ve got Week 11 and the New Orleans Saints on deck this Sunday, so get your week started with Monday’s edition of Falcoholinks.
Dante Fowler lands on reserve/COVID-19 list
The country is currently experiencing another surge of coronavirus, and as such many more NFL players seem to be landing on the reserve/COVID-19 list each week. For the Falcons, their latest player to be deemed unavailable due to the virus is defensive end Dante Fowler.
Fowler hasn’t made near as much of an impact as a pass rusher as the Falcons hoped when they signed him to a lucrative three-year deal, but he’s still been effective against the run and may miss next week’s game against the New Orleans Saints.
Single season records
With only seven games remaining in the Falcons 2020 season, are there any single season records that are in reach to be broken? There are a couple that are out there that seem like longshots, and one that is extremely likely to be broken.
An improved pass rush
The sacks might not be showing up in 2020 as the Falcons hoped, but even without them they’re sporting their best pass rush in years. They’re third in the league in pressures, whereas they finished 31st in the NFL in that metric last season.
If they can keep generating pressure at that impressive clip the sacks should soon follow.
Secondary decisions
A.J. Terrell has put together a solid rookie campaign at cornerback, but aside from his standout performance, the Atlanta Falcons possess one of the worst pass defenses in the league. The new regime will have some big decisions to make regarding the personnel in the secondary.
What could have been
How good could the 2020 Atlanta Falcons have been? They could have been pretty good — definitely better than their 3-6 record. They’re 3-1 since the firing of Dan Quinn and naming of interim head coach Raheem Morris, and it makes you wonder where they’d be sitting in the NFC playoff picture had the move been made sooner.
Regardless of the recent lackluster seasons with Dan Quinn at the helm, the former Falcons head coach is already generating some interest from both NFL and college teams.
But being as how we only have the reality of these 3-6 Atlanta Falcons, our writers took a stab at what they thought the team’s final record would be.
Falcoholic podcasts
We’ve been churning out podcast content of late, and in case you might have missed it, Aaron Freeman joined the show to discuss the Thomas Dimitroff years. Give it a listen right here.