Falcons Must Fire Dan Quinn After Disastrous Week 6 Put Cap on Entire Season
By Scott Rogust
The Atlanta Falcons' 2019 campaign has not gone the way they had expected. Sitting at 1-4 on Sunday morning, the Falcons traveled to the desert to play the Arizona Cardinals in a favorable matchup. This was the chance to the Falcons to turn things around and get back in the win column.
Head coach Dan Quinn failed to capitalize, as they lost 34-33 to the Cardinals, and officially dropped to 1-5 on the year, wasting a feverish comeback completely.
If there was ever a time to part ways with Quinn, this would be it.
dan quinn on the plane back to atlanta pic.twitter.com/NF6hYBg0Hq
— Alex Glaze (@Alex_Glaze) October 13, 2019
Quinn's claim to fame was his work as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks during their "Legion of Boom" years. In those two lone seasons, Quinn walked away with a Super Bowl win, and a new head coaching gig with the Falcons.
He impressed early on, even bringing the Falcons to Super Bowl LI. After blowing that much-joked-about 28-3 lead, the Falcons haven't been the same, and Quinn has been unable to bring any type of defensive intensity (his specialty) to the ATL, that season included.
The 2016 Falcons had the:
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) October 8, 2019
#1 offense under Kyle Shanahan
#26 defense under Dan Quinn
Nearly won the Super Bowl
Kyle leaves, Quinn stays
The defense is still bad:
2017: #28 defense
2018: #31 defense
2019: #26 defense
and without Kyle, the offense hasn't been the same.
In Week 6, Quinn's defense surrendered 442 total yards to a Cardinals offense that has struggled for most of the season. Yet they looked unstoppable on Sunday afternoon, as rookie quarterback Kyler Murray completed 73% of his passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns against the anemic Falcons defensive squad.
How about Week 5, when the Falcons blew a 17-16 halftime lead to the Houston Texans and lost 53-32? The defense surrendered 592 TOTAL YARDS. That's not a typo.
Ironically, the Green Bay Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy after a loss to the Cardinals last season. It seems only fitting that Dan Quinn be shown the door after losing to the Kliff Kingsbury-coached Cardinals.
#Cardinals are up 27-10 over the #Falcons. Last year, the #Cardinals upset the #Packers and Mike McCarthy was fired. Makes you wonder what will happen with Dan Quinn.
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) October 13, 2019
While owner Arthur Blank stressed that he had optimism in Dan Quinn prior to Week 6, this Atlanta Falcons team is going nowhere fast. Blank needs to push loyalty to the side and make a change at head coach.
Especially if he can't get the defense working in any capacity.