The Atlanta Falcons are 2-8 and reality has set in that the Super Bowl season once predicted is no longer an option for the NFC South team. Now the team is forced to answer questions about what is going wrong and what moves can be made to improve. The Falcons are struggling in every aspect of the game outside of field goal kicking. While the player personnel is surely to change, will the coaching staff change as well?
The Falcons went 13-3 just a year ago, making it all the way to the NFC Championship game. However, the team lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and now questions have come up about the future of the team. Owner Arthur Blank sport for the first time about the current state of the team and expressed nothing but confidence in everyone from head coach Mike Smith to general manager Thomas Dimitroff.
"We love our head coach and we love our general manager," Blank said, via ESPN.com. "It's up to them to candidly look at everybody -- candidly, honestly, critically -- and see what we have to do. There should be nobody that escapes that critique. That's their job, and I have confidence they'll do it. And they are doing it. And they will do it."
Blank admits the inconsistency with the franchise as a whole is troubling. He noted that this season has been disheartening considering the expectations everyone had before the season began, but the positivity over the past five seasons has him feeling fine about the future.
"They've earned it over the last five years," Blank said. "This is a tough business, and we've had a lot of injuries. [There have] been a lot of other issues on top of the injuries, and that's pretty obvious. These guys are proven leaders and proven by success and proven by their record. They'll do the work that has to be done, with my full support. We'll get back to what we have to do."
At this point, the Falcons cannot finish any better than 8-8, which would include wins over the Saints, 49ers and Green Bay Packers. Atlanta has not finished below .500 since Smith took over as head coach. Quarterback Matt Ryan admits the season has been disappointing and the team has no one to blame but themselves.
"I think the guys in that locker room [give confidence]. Clearly, we're 10 games into this thing and certainly far, far away from where we want to be, but we have six games to go. It's about pride. It's about going out there and taking pride in what you do and being competitive. Knowing that if we do play without the mistakes, without those kinds of things, we're capable of getting the job done," Ryan said.
While Ryan was certainly taking a calmer standpoint about the struggling season with the Falcons, tight end Tony Gonzalez took a more blunt approach. He called the loss embarrassing. The veteran noted that he is tired of the team's lack of effort. The Falcons face the Saints on short rest Thursday night.
