FanPost

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize Falcons Fans

For 14 years, the Falcons had their franchise quarterback. For an overwhelming majority of those years, while said quarterback had his shortcomings and definitely was not blameless, he did enough to give the Falcons a chance to win year in and year out. Of those 14 years, guess how many Super Bowls the Falcons won.......ZERO. Why? For multiple reasons.

1. Since John Abraham walked out the door after 2012, pass rush has been the biggest problem, except for 2016. Players have come and gone and DCs have come and gone. We haven't been able to make plays and get stops when we need them, short yardage situations are almost a guaranteed first down for our opponents, and we can't get off the field on third down. What has been the common denominator? We've finished in the bottom five in sacks per game six times since 2013 and in the bottom half in the league eight times. Every offseason, we ask: Will this be the year the Falcons have a good defense? TD tried to address the problem. He just sucked out loud at it. I can go on and on with all of the FA and draft misses TD had on the defensive line. The answer is: the Falcons will have a good defense when they prioritize the pass rush. Why do below-average QBs look like Tom Brady against us? Any QB with that amount of time in the pocket will do damage.

2. Not investing in the offensive line the way we should have. With the exception of 2016 and 2019, TD did a horrible job of building the offensive line. Peter Konz, Mike Person, Matt Hennessy, etc. While he did hit on picks like Joe Hawley, Jake Matthews, the FA signing of Alex Mack, Chris Lindstrom, and Kaleb McGary, giving up 40+ sacks for four straight years are not a good look at all. And then we all remember how bad the o lien was in 2013 and 2014.

3. TD trying to outsmart everyone on draft day. Now this may have been a symptom of Quinn trying to sabotage the draft, but except for 2016, TD's draft record from 2014-2020 is...not pretty. Lots of misses, including leaving some generational talent on the board in the process.

4. A meddling owner who decided to inject himself into football operations after 2016. From 2008-2016, during the most successful era in franchise history, Blank stayed out of football operations for the most part. But for some reason, maybe trying to chase 2016, Blank injected himself into football operations. Combine the "Falcons for life" mantra with a HC and GM who overestimated their guys, and you have a bunch of guys being either overpaid (Deion Jones and Ricardo Allen) or getting undeserved new contracts (Julio).

So, think about those reasons on why we couldn't win a Super Bowl with Matt Ryan. Now think about the needs we have. Wide Receiver, Center, DT, Edge Rusher, CB2, and potentially LG. The same questions we are currently asking about Ridder are similar to what the Eagles fanbase asked about Jalen Hurts last year. Did Howie Roseman sell off the team's future for Deshaun Watson or Russell Wilson? Or did he improve what was already a good o-line and defense, while going out and adding a top 10 WR in the NFL. Look at the Niners. Brock Purdy was on the practice squad to start the season. He now has his team playing for their second Super Bowl birth in four years. It's not like he's setting the world on fire. The Niners are here because like Philly, they invested in building an all-around great football team. Russell Wilson won a Super bowl being a game manager on a loaded Seahawks team at the beginning of his career. Big Ben won two being a game manager as well for a loaded defense.

So, with everything being considered, why would a very large chunk of Falcons fans want to mortgage our future for a QB who's not only injury prone, but also 1-3 in the playoffs? "But Lamar will put fans in the stands the way Vick did." No. You want to know what puts Falcons fans in the stands? W's. 57 years and no Super Bowls. You really think that a flashy, mobile QB is what this fanbase wants? So, no. Going after Lamar is not in the best interest of this team. We've spent two years talking about this upcoming offseason and how the money will allow us to build the lines, build the defense, and help put forth a competitive team. So, let's not take our eye off the ball and remember where we were cap wise just a few months ago.

<em>This FanPost was written by one of The Falcoholic's talented readers. It does not necessarily reflect the views of The Falcoholic.</em>