Weekend Reflections: Falcons fire assistant as Pearce remains on roster

The Falcons haven’t said anything about James Pearce Jr.’s arrest on charges of battery and stalking beyond the standard stuff about being aware and gathering information.

Whatever information they’ve gathered three weeks later hasn’t led them to dismiss Pearce from the team (his lawyers said he’s not guilty of the charges).

The Falcons also said they were gathering information about a sexual assault allegation against assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis. Whatever information they gathered over the next few hours prompted them to fire Lewis on Friday afternoon (his lawyer said the allegations are false).

The Falcons aren’t commenting about Pearce beyond confirming the gathering of information. The most they’ve said about Lewis is a statement: “The Atlanta Falcons have dismissed assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis from his role.”

I suspect the team’s different responses to the allegations against Pearce and Lewis might be because of the relative size of the Falcons’ investments in the two and their value to the team.

The Falcons need Pearce to help their defense. He’s a special talent.

The Falcons can do without Lewis’ coaching. Assistant defensive line coaches are a dime a dozen. So, they didn’t wait to see how things turned out with the 2024 allegations against Lewis from his time as a Michigan assistant (Ann Arbor police told media they are investigating the accusations).

The accusations against Pearce are disturbing. He’s facing several felony charges after police said he rammed his vehicle several times into a vehicle driven by WNBA player Rickea Jackson.

The allegations against Lewis also are disturbing.

Pearce hasn’t had his day in court to answer the charges against him. His defense will be part of the information the Falcons gather.

But what if Pearce serves no prison time, but the Falcons gather information that leads them to believe he did the things in the police report? Would they keep him around to serve what figures to be a minimum six-game ban by the NFL?

The Falcons could decide Pearce is worth the reputational hit.

Hawks handle business versus bad teams

The Hawks beat Portland on Sunday for their fourth victory in a row. They beat two teams aiming for the draft lottery (Washington twice, Brooklyn once). The Trail Blazers played without their top two scorers.

The Hawks (31-31) won all the games by large margins. They count in the standings as much as any other victories. The Hawks have set themselves up to escape play-in purgatory by finishing at least sixth in the Eastern Conference.

They are 3½ games behind sixth-place Philadelphia with 20 games to play. The Hawks have as many games left against bad/tanking teams as they do against contenders. The light schedule gives them some time to adjust to new rotations after CJ McCollum joined the starting lineup and Zaccharie Risacher went to the bench.

The Hawks didn’t win the four games in a row with great offense. They won because opponents lacking offensive talent struggled to score. The Hawks won’t get far if they must rely on defense to carry them.

Trae Young last played for the Hawks on Dec. 27. Since then, they rank fifth in the NBA in defensive efficiency, 21st in offensive efficiency and 13th in net efficiency, according to Cleaning the Glass (garbage time excluded). More prime minutes for McCollum should help the offense, but the defense takes a hit.

The Hawks next play Wednesday at the Bucks (who are winning with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the injured list). After that, the Hawks will enjoy a five-game homestand with visits from the 76ers, Mavericks, Nets, Bucks and Magic.

I’ll know the Hawks are serious if they win at least four of those six.

Atlanta United still can’t score

I didn’t expect Gerardo “Tata” Martino to fix Atlanta United overnight. I did expect one lousy goal through two matches. Is it asking too much to finally get some magic from the $40 million attacking trio?

The Five Stripes lost 2-0 at San Jose on Saturday. They lost 2-0 at Cincinnati a week before that. Montreal is the only other MLS team that hasn’t scored yet.

The excitement for Atlanta United last season was adding Emmanuel Latte Lath and Miguel Almiron to join Alexey Miranchuk. That joy quickly dissipated with six shutouts among the first 14 matches.

The hope for Atlanta United this year was getting a boost from Martino, who guided them to an MLS Cup in 2018. That optimism already has taken a hit with two shutouts in as many games.

Martino’s predecessor, Ronny Deila, couldn’t get much from Miranchuk, Almiron and Latte Lath. They combined for 19 goals and 12 assists. Through two games this season (227 minutes combined) the three have combined to produce three shots on target, all by Almiron.

Last season, the three Designated Players couldn’t link up consistently or produce enough good moments individually. Two early sparks against San Jose amounted to nothing.

Almiron chased a nice through ball, but the goalie snuffed out the first action, and no teammates arrived in support of Almiron. Two minutes later, Latte Lathe created a chance by pressuring his defender all the way to the end line, but his cutback pass was blocked.

The lack of offensive spark might not be so bad for Atlanta United if it could tighten up on defense. But there was a breakdown against San Jose that looked like so many others from last season.