FLOWERY BRANCH -- Rarely does the play-calling matchup get so much attention before a regular-season game, but it will with the Falcons (4-4) set to face the Dallas Cowboys (6-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith, a former offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, was hired to replace Dan Quinn, who was fired midseason last year after five seasons.
Quinn was hired by the Cowboys as their defensive coordinator and took several coaches with him. Even a couple of key former Falcons -- Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee -- followed Quinn to Dallas.
While the players will play the game, the coaching acumen of Smith and Quinn will be on display in the a game where the Cowboys are prohibitive 9-point favorites and have the No. 1-ranked offense in the NFL (434.3 yards per game).
“(Dallas has) one of the more talented rosters in the NFL,” Smith said. “They’ve got good players in all three phases. We have to be ready to go.”
Quinn’s unit is coming off a poor performance against Denver. The defense missed a season-high 14 tackles in the 30-14 loss to Denver.
“That’s one game in the NFL,” Smith said. “You live and die every week by narratives. Their overall body or work, they are 6-2. Create a lot of turnovers. They’ve got a lot of really good football players. They attack the football and they fly around.”
After he was fired by the Falcons in October last year, Quinn went on a football retreat. He looked back at his defenses over the past eight seasons, which covered his Falcons stint and some of his Seattle time.
He’s retooled the unit and has the Cowboys playing a very aggressive brand of defense.
“He’s evolved and re-invented himself,” Smith said. “He’s playing a lot of man football.”
Smith has an ample amount of respect for Quinn, who guided the Falcons to Super Bowl LI and after their awful collapse took them to the playoffs the following season.
“Dan Quinn is a terrific football coach,” Smith said. “One of the best genuine guys in this business. Those guys are ready to roll. They are playing a lot of man coverage, they are playing multiple looks, but their ‘always-trait’ is that those guys are going to play fast and attack the football.”
Quinn reflected on his journey.
“One of the biggest lessons was just, ‘Hey, man, keep the main thing the main thing,’” Quinn said to the Dallas media last week. “If you’re somebody that likes to solve a lot of problems and do things, keep everything right in front of you of the things you have the power to control and effect.”
Quinn admits that he’s overhauled his scheme from his Falcons days. Some coaches would consider that “strategy” and not comment on their alignments.
“Yes, 100 percent,” Quinn said. “That was a big part of it. It was not just my Atlanta time, but I included some Seattle time in there.”
It was a massive film study, but after he was fired five games into last season, Quinn had a little time on his hands.
“So, there was about almost a seven-year cut-ups that I went through to find what was good, what needed changing and what needed tweaking,” Quinn said. “So, it’s quite a bit different.”
Former Falcons assistant coaches Joe Whitt Jr. and Arden Durden went with Quinn to Dallas.
“He’s a remarkable teacher, Arden is,” Quinn said. “I think that really comes first as a coach, what’s our first job, is to make sure the instruction, the information, the intent, and he has such a real way about him of communicating that. I thought that’s his superpower as a teacher.”
Durden became the NFL’s first full-time British coach when the Falcons hired him in 2017. He’s a key member of Quinn’s defensive staff.
“So, he’s able to connect with different people on different sides of the ball,” Quinn said. “He’s digging into new ideas and new ways of looking at things. He gave me a ton of feedback through the years. I’d say that’s the thing that most impresses me about him is watching him teach and listen.”
Whitt and assistant coach George Edwards help Quinn put together the defensive game plans.
“On a staff there are usually people who have areas of responsibility,” Quinn said. “And you may have heard me refer to Joe and to (secondary coach) Al (Harris) last week on third down, there were some areas of emphasis, or another person does short yardage or red zone or goal line. Then bring all of the information up to the table. Then it’s kind of like putting a puzzle together.”
The Cowboys’ defensive staff studied Smith and the Falcons’ offense with an eye toward, ‘Hey, this is what they do best.’
“How can we go attack it or play to this player and matchups,” Quinn said. “So, it’s a fun part of it. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
Quinn knows that Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who he’s stayed in contact with via text messages, won’t be fooled by any of his calls.
“He is a rare competitor,” Quinn said. “I would say he is one of those people that are never out of the fight. Just because of his competitive nature.”
Sure enough, Ryan is coming off his 41st game-winning drive and 33rd fourth-quarter comeback.
“You always support somebody that always had your back,” Quinn said of Ryan. “And I thought that was certainly (the case) from the quarterback-head coach relationship, an important one. I always felt that way with Matt.”
The feeling is mutual.
“I mean, listen, I love Dan,” Ryan said of his head coach from 2015-20. “He’s an awesome person. He’s a great coach. I really enjoyed playing for him. And so I wish him nothing but the best. But he knows what this week is about for both of us. It’s about trying to get a win.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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Next four games
Falcons at Cowboys, 1 p.m. Sunday
Patriots at Falcons, 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18
Falcons at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28
Tampa Bay at Atlanta, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 5
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