It might be time for Mike Smith and his coaching staff to go

[WraithSentinel]

Once again on another big stage the Falcons get their *ss kicked. This is not to give Matt Ryan a free pass. He didn't go jack today as usual on a big stage. Who are you going to get to replace Ryan? That is a lot tougher to do. Next best thing to do is to get a new HC.

[Atlantaholic]

Once again on another big stage the Falcons get their *ss kicked. This is not to give Matt Ryan a free pass. He didn't go jack today as usual on a big stage. Who are you going to get to replace Ryan? That is a lot tougher to do. Next best thing to do is to get a new HC.

He isn't without blame, but what is he expected to do without a pocket and without a running game? We haven't been able to convert for 1 f***ing yard since the first saints game, our line is bottom tier.

[jhay610]

Brutal game today...need some time to digest because emotions are still raw at this point.

My initial thoughts are:

Strictly looking at personnel, are the Falcons really this much worse than the elite level teams (Pack, Saints, etc)? On paper, that wouldn't seem to be the case. On paper they should at least be competitive, not getting blown out. There are holes on the team but the same is true of every NFL roster. That would seem to be an indictment on the coaching.

I am also doubtful Matt Ryan will ever be more than a very good quarterback even if he develops optimally. He does not have the footwork, athletic ability, arm strength or improvisational ability of the elite level guys.

To win big with him we may need elite talent all over the field around him and will most certainly need elite coaching to put him in the best positions to be successful. We don't seem to have either of those at the moment.

Keeping things in perspective, the Falcons recent run is literally the best stretch of continued performance in all of the franchise's history, so some credit is due for that. It's just painful as a fan to make the playoffs but be clearly inferior to the better teams and be abused by them repeatedly -- it's the same thing we endure as Hawks fans.

Perhaps the hardest part is getting over the hump to the championship level.

Edited January 8, 2012 by jhay610

[Plainview1981]

Once again on another big stage the Falcons get their *ss kicked. This is not to give Matt Ryan a free pass. He didn't go jack today as usual on a big stage. Who are you going to get to replace Ryan? That is a lot tougher to do. Next best thing to do is to get a new HC.

-New OC

-Spend money and improve the defensive talent

-Shake up the offensive line to bring in more toughness.

Do these things and try again... If you fail, major changes should then be made.

[EazyRoc]

-New OC

-Spend money and improve the defensive talent

-Shake up the offensive line to bring in more toughness.

Do these things and try again... If you fail, major changes should then be made.

This. Our offensive line has been getting punked all season. We need a new FS because DeCoud is terrible. We need some bigger guys at DT too.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

Ryan is not a great QB. He does the right "things" like manage the game (like throw the ball away on 2nd and 10 when someone breath down his throat or chases him---doesn't take risk that other great QB do), but the Falcons need to build an elite defense to win in the playoffs. Getting Julio and forgoing all those draft picks will bite them in the rear end.

Edited January 8, 2012 by Playa

[macdaddy]

I don't see how you can ask much more of the defense. Mularky has to go I think. Julio will be a great receiver in this league but we should be running a different offense with this personnel. We probably need a running back who can catch screens and do something with them (and maybe throw some screens.

Firing Mike Smith would be the worst move we could make. We finally get a coach who runs a winning football team we need to hang on to him. The play calling was horrible but lets face it we dropped some passes. In fact i think we led the league in dropped passes. I don't think Ryan or Smith is the problem. We just need to run a short yardage, passing game.

[macdaddy]

BTW, isn't this just the type of feeling we Atlanta fans seem to be perpetually living with? I know other cities have their tales of woe but Atlanta teams seem to let down in extremely disappointing fashion. In fact i'm starting to see Gearon's point (can't believe i just wrote that) that of all the teams that don't come through for the fans in Atlanta the Hawks are actually the best of the worst.

The point is i could live with a loss but to not even show up or sniff the goal line was almost as bad as the Braves epic collapse. That 2 points was embarrasing. I think i'd rather it say zero.

[Admin]

I definitely wouldn't let go of Smith as he's a really good coach, but you have to wonder about some of his decisions sometimes. That 4th and short at the end of the 3rd quarter was a pretty bad decision. And wasn't he the coach earlier in the season that went for it on 4th down in your own territory and lost the game because of it?

Even though the Falcons offense puts up a lot of points in the regular season I'd say that Mularkey definitely needs to go as it doesn't seem to me like he's getting the most out of the weapons that the Falcons have.

[AHF]

I like going for it on short yardage downs, but it is an indictment of our OL that we consistently are failing on short yardage downs. As I say every offseason, I want to see us with a dominant team in the trenches. Our DL doesn't do much in the way of creating pressure and our OL was pretty bad this season.

[coachx]

Brian Van Gorder is going to Auburn............I expect Murlarkey to be gone soon but Mike Smith will stay.

Falcons #1 priority should be left OG and DB depth as well is retaining many of their own FAs.

Grimes, Decoud, Lofton, Abraham, and Biermann are defensive free agents.

[Dnice]

Thanks for posting coach, I had to go to the AJC to find out why I couldn't access the Foulcan boards.

[EazyRoc]

Brian Van Gorder is going to Auburn............I expect Murlarkey to be gone soon but Mike Smith will stay.

Falcons #1 priority should be left OG and DB depth as well is retaining many of their own FAs.

Grimes, Decoud, Lofton, Abraham, and Biermann are defensive free agents.

Let DeCoud walk. If Abraham wants too much money, you let him walk too.

[Eddielives]

Well Mularkey is the coach at Jacksonville now so Mike Smith and Dmitroff have to replace both coordinators now. One thing is for sure, the Falcons will, more than likely, have a different look next year both offensively and defensively. Talk about a busy offseason this is going to be. Hope Arthur has the checkbook ready because there are so many holes on this team it is going to take major money and a lot of luck to not have another year where the organization takes a step back. Still, I would rather see a year of tanking than see them make another Dunta or Ray Edwards mistake.

[AHF]

Still, I would rather see a year of tanking than see them make another Dunta or Ray Edwards mistake.

Agreed. I don't want to see us make a bunch of high $$ risky FA signings. Keep our picks and make good draft decisions first. Then make smart choices in FA that will put us in good shape in 3 years from now.