Is it time for a massive Falcons franchise reboot?

FLOWERY BRANCH — After a 3-7 start, the Falcons are two losses from securing the franchise’s eighth consecutive losing season.

That would be the second time that the franchise, which started play in 1966, has posted eight consecutive losing seasons. The Falcons did not have a winning record from 1981-90, a string of 10 consecutive losing seasons.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank purchased the team in 2002 and has presided over the glory years of seven trips to the playoffs, three conference championship games and one trip to the Super Bowl. But the franchise fumbled the transition from quarterback Matt Ryan and has fallen on hard times since being upset by the Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs following the 2017 regular season.

Five games into the 2020 season, coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff were fired. Quinn had become only the second coach to take the franchise to the Super Bowl, joining Dan Reeves (1998). Dimitroff had been with the team since 2008 and built the team into a perennial winner after finding a quarterback in Ryan, fighting off the coaches who wanted LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. Terry Fontenot, a former executive with the Saints, was hired as general manager and Arthur Smith, a former offensive coordinator with the Titans, was hired as the head coach.

They were handed a massive rebuilding job with very little salary-cap space and an aging quarterback.

After three consecutive 7-10 seasons, Smith, who had a six-year contract, was fired.

Morris is in the second year of a five-year contract worth $20 million that runs through 2029, according to Front Office Sports.

With the team off to a 3-7 start, he was asked if he was worried about his job security.

“That’s what we do,” Morris said. “In this business, that’s just a part of it, right? You always think about that like — just a part of it. That’s our job. Our job is winning, and that’s what we’re supposed to do. And that’s always going to be something that you can talk about.”

Morris was on Quinn’s staff and was named the interim head coach after Quinn was fired in October 2020. After the Falcons fired Smith and interviewed 14 candidates to replace him, including Bill Belichick, Morris was hired to get the Falcons back to the playoffs.

Fontenot, finally with some salary-cap room, signed free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year deal worth up to $180 million. A few months later, they drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr., and they thought they had solved their quarterback issue for at least the next decade.

After a torrid 6-3 start last season, Morris guided the Falcons to a 8-9 final mark.

Morris, who has been coaching in the NFL since 2002, has remained steady as the losses have mounted this season.

“You find out very quickly that you cannot ride the emotional roller coaster because these six days come very fast, and you’ve got to be ready to deal,” Morris said. “I had very good mentorship and leadership around me, whether it was Mike Tomlin, whether it was Monte Kiffin, whether it was Rod Marinelli, whether it was Joe Barry, any of those guys that I was with in Tampa, Jon Gruden on offense, and all of that staff, and you’ve got to be able to flip the switch pretty quick and move on.”

The Falcons were expecting to have a high-powered offense and attacking defense. The offense has not put things together and had some internal strife with the firing of longtime NFL assistant coach Ike Hilliard and the release of slot receiver Ray-Ray McCloud.

The Falcons have not been able to fix their issues on offense and now will hand the ball to Cousins, after Penix’s season-ending knee injury. The defense has a pass rush, but then started playing poor run defense. Last week, the depleted secondary was torched for 448 yards Sunday by Carolina’s Bryce Young.

“You’ve got to be able to correct it,” Morris said. “You’ve got to be able to stand in front of people and talk about it. You better be ready to deal with it as we go out there. … You’ve got to do what you need to do to try to win football games.”

Morris still has a firm grip on the locker room.

“You don’t have to worry about what it’s going to be like coming in here,” backup quarterback Easton Stick said. “He’s positive. He’s honest. Tells you where we need to get better. I think we all really appreciate that.”

Fontenot’s drafts, when just looking at the players taken in the top 100 picks, have gotten stronger since his first one in 2021, when the Falcons missed by taking safety Richie Grant in the second round (40th overall) and offensive tackle Jalen Mayfield in the third round (68th).

Tight end Kyle Pitts (fourth overall) has not been a miss, but several players selected behind him have been more productive, such as wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (fifth), offensive tackle Penei Sewell (seventh), cornerbacks Jaycee Horn (eighth) and Patrick Surtain II (ninth) and outside linebacker Micah Parsons (12th).

In the 2022 draft, the Falcons’ gamble on linebacker Troy Andersen in the second round (58th overall) has not panned out. Some wanted the Falcons to take former Georgia standout Nakobe Dean with that pick. He went later (83rd overall) in the third round to the Eagles.

In 2023, Bijan Robinson (eighth), Matthew Bergeron (38th) and Zach Harrison (75th) all were good picks.

The jury is still out on 2024: Penix (eighth), Ruke Orhorhoro (35th) and Bralen Trice (74th). Penix had an injury history and suffered an injury in his first full season as the starter after nine starts. Orhorhoro is a contributor, and Trice has not played a down.