Weekend Reflections: The Falcons are in shambles
When the Falcons beat the Bills 24-14 in Week 6, coach Raheem Morris said the performance proved that the team’s 30-0 loss to Carolina two weeks earlier was an “anomaly.”
“I think the other games (are) more of what we are,” Morris said. “It’s more of a true story of what our team (is).”
Well, there have been two more anomalies for the Falcons since then. They couldn’t do much of anything against San Francisco’s beat-up defense during the 20-10 loss in Week 7. The Falcons were even worse in a 34-10 loss to the 1-6 (now 2-6) Dolphins on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
That’s three anomalies out of seven games for the Falcons (3-4). Morris said it’s only two because the game in San Francisco was close late. I don’t buy that, when the Falcons scored fewer points than any 49ers opponent. They also scored the fewest points of any Miami opponent.
See the pattern?
The true story of Morris’ team is that they are a mess because their star-studded offense is among the least productive in the NFL. Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Drake London didn’t play Sunday. That fact doesn’t come close to explaining how the Falcons scored three points when it mattered against the league’s 29th-ranked scoring defense.
Morris said running the ball is his team’s bread and butter. The Falcons were bland as dry toast while rushing for 20 yards on 12 carries before garbage time. The Dolphins entered the game ranked 29th in yards allowed per carry.
Said Morris, “Not being able to run the football and control the game, that’s our lifeline. When that’s not working, it’s going to look bad on us, whether that’s offense, defense or special teams.”
Kirk Cousins filled in for Penix. Cousins is the most expensive backup in NFL history. He showed Sunday that he’s not even the best backup in the league. The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 4. I can’t imagine any general manager wants to acquire Cousins and the prorated portion of his $27.5 million salary.
Morris said Bijan Robinson is the best player in football. So why has Robinson been ineffective two games in a row? He had 23 rushing yards on nine carries before garbage time Sunday. Robinson lost a fumble while not even being tackled, setting up the touchdown that put away the Falcons.
Beating the Bills is the high point of the season so far for the Falcons. Morris was feeling so good after that win that he declared the Panthers game to be a one-off. Morris said the Falcons aimed to be a “playoff organization” again after seven consecutive seasons with no postseason berth.
That bravado was gone after another bad loss.
“Tough day at the office,” Morris said. “Sundays, man, (with) these things, you can be humbled. And today was one of those days.”
The Falcons have had three of those days. Zac Robinson’s offense is the main culprit. The Falcons have a good defense, but the Dolphins exposed its heavy reliance on blitzes to pressure the quarterback.
Playing poorly isn’t an anomaly for the Falcons. They are in shambles.
Brent Key put Haynes King at risk for no good reason
Georgia Tech is on track for the ACC title game and a berth in the College Football Playoff field. That changes if quarterback Haynes King suffers an injury that forces him to miss significant time or is too beat up to play his best. King is Tech’s most important player because of his talent, production and leadership.
That’s why it didn’t make sense for King to be playing still after Tech had the game in hand Saturday. The Yellow Jackets led Syracuse 34-16 with eight minutes remaining. King stayed in the game and ran the ball four times during the drive that ended with his rushing touchdown.
Why not give King a break?
“We didn’t bring any stretchers out for him today,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “If I’m not mistaken, there was a couple of guys that tried to tackle him that got taken off the field, though.”
Macho boasting is unnecessary. Everybody knows King is tough. King didn’t end up on a stretcher. That doesn’t mean it was a good idea to expose him to unnecessary risk. What did Tech gain by having King lead another drive?
It’s not just about injuries. It’s important for the Jackets to keep King in good condition for the many important plays to come. Remember: King was beat up late in the 2024 season. The Jackets scored a total of 19 points when he sat out the losses to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech.
Said Key, “If I walk in and coach a game scared, somebody is going to get hurt, (then) everything I’ve worked to instill into this program for the last three years is washed and gone.”
Injuries are a risk of playing football. Avoiding unnecessary risks is prudent. I don’t think Key would hurt the culture of his program by taking that approach with King. Everyone understands why there’s no need for the quarterback to play after victory is assured.
King didn’t play during the final series of the 41-16 victory over Syracuse. That decision by Key won’t wash away the spirit of toughness that he’s instilled in his program. It was a reasonable precaution taken by the head coach.
Key should use more caution with his quarterback. The Jackets can’t get where they want to go without King.
Hawks are hurting already
The Hawks faded last season when the strain of injuries to several key players became too much. They entered this season with all their regulars ready to go full speed. The healthy roster lasted one game.
Starting center Kristaps Porzingis missed the past two games with what the Hawks said are flu-like symptoms. The Hawks won without him at Orlando on Friday. Starting forwards Jalen Johnson (ankle) and Zaccharie Risacher (ankle) were added to the injured list for Saturday’s game against the Thunder. The defending NBA champions won 117-100.
It’s disconcerting to see Porzingis and Johnson on the injury report already. A mysterious illness sapped Porzingis’ energy late last season. Johnson played in only 162 of 246 possible games before this season because of a long list of injuries.
Johnson and Porzingis haven’t been durable players during their careers. Over the summer, Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh dismissed my suggestion that his team should add more veteran frontcourt players. The past two games provided some evidence that Saleh might be right.
Mouhamed Gueye and Asa Newell fared well in larger roles. Both big men are young, high-effort players who can give the Hawks good minutes in a pinch. We’ll see how that goes if they’re needed for extended periods of time.
Trae Young said it’s hard to judge the Hawks with the regulars on the shelf. That’s true. We only have one game to judge the Hawks as a full unit. They got embarrassed on their home court by the Raptors on opening night.
Mark DeRosa won’t be next Braves manager
Speculation about Mark DeRosa’s candidacy for the job increased when he was spotted at the Georgia-Auburn football game with former Braves manager Brian Snitker, former Braves teammate Chipper Jones and ex-Braves catcher David Ross. But DeRosa told 680 The Fan on Friday that he hasn’t been contacted by the Braves or any other MLB team.
Ross told the AP earlier this month that he’d be interested in the job, but added that his candidacy “didn’t have any legs yet.” That still seems to be the case. Ross managed the Cubs from 2020-23.
Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos didn’t name any candidates when announcing Snitker’s departure. Early speculation centered on DeRosa and Ross. Now Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann “seemingly strengthened” his candidacy recently.
Lehmann was an advance video scout for the Dodgers when Anthopoulos was the team’s vice president of baseball operations. Lehmann has been bench coach to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts since the 2023 season.
Lehmann has an unconventional background. He’s a former minor-league catcher who became a front-office assistant, then a uniformed coach. Maybe his path means he would be a good manager. Maybe it’s a bad thing. Who knows?
Anthopoulos has been good with evaluating intangible factors when building a roster and staff. He’ll have to do that again when picking the next manager. If the choice is Lehmann, then the hiring will have to wait until the Dodgers and Blue Jays finish the World Series.
My Weekend Predictions were 6-5
That’s my same record picking games against the spread in each of the past three weeks. It’s my record for six of nine weeks overall. I need the anomaly of a great week to end the numbing mediocrity.
I picked the Falcons to win before Penix was ruled out and before London even appeared on the injury report. Honestly, even with that knowledge I still would have picked the Falcons to win because the Dolphins are so bad. The Falcons really are a mess.
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