This is how it ends, with the offense accumulating as many turnovers as points (3), the quarterback throwing two touchdowns to the other team — it’s possible Matt Ryan merely couldn’t see straight after six sacks and seemingly 60 levelings — and the defense soothing Cam Newton like candles, incense and the soft sounds of wind chimes.
This is how it ends, with the usually accessible owner, Arthur Blank denying comment immediately following the game to a television reporter, then turning to a team spokeswoman and barking, “Do your job,” then ignoring three consecutive questions from me following coach Mike Smith’s painful news conference, before ducking out a side door.
Smith is certain to lose his job as the Falcons head coach after seven seasons, as early as today. But Blank didn’t want to talk about it. Nor did he want to talk about a pre-game report of a needless and thoroughly classless decision to hire a search firm for Smith’s replacement even as the Falcons were preparing for a game that could’ve propelled them into the playoffs.
Because why? Search firms book up quick? And by all means, let’s let that story leak, because it’s certainly just what’s going to lift a team’s spirits before playing its most important game of the season.
“Guys are smart. I wish we hadn’t heard that,” said one Falcons player.
So many will say of the 2014 season: “I wish I hadn’t seen that.”
After following five consecutive winning seasons and four playoff berths with a 4-12 season in 2013, the Falcons affirmed last season was no aberration. They lost to Carolina 34-3 to finish 6-10 and lose a chance to win a playoff berth that they didn’t deserve any way.
The symbolism gods had a field day with this: There was a sewage backup in the Georgia Dome, flooding the corridor just down the hall from the door to the Falcons’ locker room.
No worries. Blank formed a search committee for a new plumber weeks ago.
It was a horrible day and the most Falconest way of doing things – go to New Orleans last week to win a big game and position yourself for the NFC South Division title, then return home, pull a 180 and get plastered at the Georgia Dome. Carolina drove 77 yards to a field goal on its first drive, 87 yards to a touchdown on its second drive.
It was only 10-0, but it felt like 30-0. It was never a game, and Ryan’s misfires made certain of that.
“I didn’t think we ever quit,” Jonathan Babineaux said in response to that question. “Carolina was just the better team and we came out flat.”
And for that, there is no excuse.
It’s more than fair to debate whether general manager Thomas Dimitroff also should be fired. He is in charge of personnel. He picked these players. His failings have famously been punctuated by an inability to build strong, even competent, offensive and defensive lines.
What I don’t understand are arguments that Smith should stay and Dimitroff should go. Even if a strong case could be made that Smith was dealt losing hands in 2013 and 2014, there’s not a convincing argument that the Falcons performed to their expectations in either season.
Sorry, but the talent is better than records of 4-12 and 6-10. The talent is better than going 1-9 against non-division opponents this season. The talent is better than coming home after a resounding, season-saving win in New Orleans and then getting run over at home (where the Falcons used to be tough but are 6-8 in the last two years).
Mike Smith is really good football coach. But his effectiveness in Atlanta has run its course, and that has been evident for some time.
After the game, Smith also did what one would’ve expected. He jumped on the grenade for everybody, protecting his players.
Asked about rumors of his imminent firing, he said, “I’m here as the football coach until Arthur Blank tells me anything different.”
Does he feel he deserves to come back?
“I’m not going to comment. That’s not my choice. This is a business about winning football games, and that’s how you’re judged. I understand that and I’ll leave it at that.”
Do the last two years send a signal to him that something is wrong in the organization?
“It sends signals to me that I didn’t get the job done. I’m the one who’s held responsible for it. Nobody else in this building is. It’s my responsibility for the seasons we’ve had the entire time I’ve been here.”
Smith is loved by his players. But that love won’t be enough to save his job.
“That’s what he does – he blames everything on himself,” wide receiver Roddy White said. “But today we had to play better as a team, and we didn’t. We let him down. I wish it would’ve been different so we wouldn’t be talking about the fate of our coach.”
On the visiting sideline, Carolina coach Ron Rivera got the Gatorade bath from his players. On the Falcons’ sideline, Blank was missing from his usual late-game position. There’s a message there. An obvious message. Mike Smith’s time is over.
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