Now that the Atlanta Falcons have dashed any hopes for a second half of the season revival with their loss last week to the New York Jets, they can get that monkey off their back of competing for a playoff berth and do what they do best … play spoiler.
There are a lot of things that have gone wrong for the Falcons this season, which is a common pattern for this struggling organization. Losing second-year quarterback Michael Penix and having to turn to veteran Kirk Cousins to run their offense was a major blow. But there is another self-inflicted wound that Atlanta is saddled with, head coach Raheem Morris.
I am not routinely one to knock head coaches to the point of calling for them to lose their job. I’ve worked with coaches in three professional sports and have the utmost respect for the challenges they confront on a number of fronts let alone the task of simply doing their job.
Head coaches have to listen to fan chatter telling them how to do their job, player demands and ownership and management groups that aren’t interested in excuses or even reasons that have merit, only results. Every team is looking to get a “W” each week, and only half of them do.
But just as it pained me to see talent in San Diego and later Los Angeles go to waste while the Chargers were led by an inept coach, I have to call the job Morris is doing in Atlanta a primary reason they have lost twice as many games as they have won this season.
The Falcons have talent on both sides of the ball, and this team should be able to win even with Kirk Cousins running their offense.
This week, they meet a team that has a coach doing the kind of job that can earn him Coach of the Year honors. Mike Macdonald is in his second year as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and he has both the respect of his players and the results to show the guy knows what he is doing.
He is one of these new era coaches, not out of the Vince Lombardi or Paul Brown mold where fear was as much a motivator as the game plan, but with an esprit de corps with his athletes that generates an infectious team fellowship. This is a coach players can high-five without fear they are crossing a line.
His work has shown up on the field.
Last year, he had Geno Smith running his offense from the quarterback position and guided the Seahawks to a winning record. This year, Smith is struggling in Las Vegas while his replacement in Seattle, Sam Darnold, is putting up MVP numbers. The Seahawks caught the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West standings last week with their win over the Minnesota Vikings while the Rams were being upset on the road by the Carolina Panthers.
All good things in Seattle.
And now, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
I don’t know if the Seahawks are actually going to lose in Atlanta this week, but I know this, they are showing up at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at just the wrong time. The week after the Falcons shed the pressure of vying for a playoff berth and free to just play the game and after the Seahawks got a surprise gift with last week's Rams loss in Carolina.
A Falcons upset win here? Maybe. A point spread win with the generous line, oh yeah.
Qoxhi Picks: Atlanta Falcons (+7) over Seattle Seahawks