Coach Dan Quinn would tell anyone who’d ask him that he didn’t envision his new job as a “rebuilding” situation.
Quinn, without much fanfare, would say, “this is about right now.”
The first-year coach has the Falcons out of the gate clean with a 4-0 record and after two losing seasons. Folks are starting to take notice after this surprising start.
Former coach Tony Dungy, who’s an analyst for NBC, commented on the biggest difference between last season’s 6-10 team and this year’s 4-0 squad.
“It’s Dan Quinn, the new head coach,” Dungy said. “He’s brought an attitude to this team…Their offensive line, they dominated Dallas upfront and they did it again (verses Houston).”
NBC analyst Rodney Harrison declared himself officially on the bandwagon.
“By their bye week, they could be 8-1 or 9-0,” Harrison said. “Pretty amazing.”
While Dungy credits Dan Quinn with the turnaround, Harrison believes the key has been the improved rushing attack.
Former Falcons great Deion Sanders, an NFL Media analyst, agrees with Dungy that Quinn deserves the credit for the swift early-season turnaround.
“I like the Atlanta Falcons,” Sanders said. “When you remove a coach and you bring in a whole new regime and you go 4-0, that tells you there was some stuff going on with the last regime.”
NFL Media analyst Marshall Faulk, as Pro Football Hall of Famer, also points to the improve rushing attack which has been powered by a revamped offensive line and running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.
Faulk has been impressed with Freeman.
“We saw him on third down a lot last year – he’s become a first and second down back, and third down,” Faulk said. “He’s a threat for them. With (wide receiver) Julio Jones taking coverage off, he is going to be dangerous.”
Quinn, who was given complete control of the roster, opened the season with 24 players who weren’t on the 53-man roster for last season’s finale. That’s a 45 percent turnover rate.
Falcons president Rich McKay recently cited during a radio interview that Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff found players to fit the new schemes.
Now, with the good start, Quinn is allowing the players to enjoy the ride.
“The sky is the limit for us,” said defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux, one of the holdovers.
The Falcons pulled out three fourth-quarter comeback victories over Eagles, Giants and Cowboys. The Falcons routed the Texans on Sunday, 48-21.
The Texans were 9-7 and picked by many to contend for an AFC playoff berth in their second year under former Patriots assistant Bill O’Brien. The Falcons victory and how easily the Texans were dismissed, attracted some attention around the league.
The Falcons jumped out to a 42-0 lead and were able to rest their starters in the fourth quarter. Blowouts in the parity-era of the NFL are less rare.
“All units, we improved from the week before that’s really our goal as we are going through it,” Quinn said.
But Quinn knows the Falcons must keep improving.
“One of the things we challenged with the guys today, where are you at with your game?,” Quinn said. “What are the things you want to improve upon? First quarter, we are just kind of getting started together. We asked each coach to kind of come up with a thing or two for the players, what’s an area where you can improve upon and let’s make that the emphasis going forward.”
Quinn also asked his coaches to find improvements for the schemes.
“What can we do better from a fundamental standpoint for us to be at our very best every week,” Quinn said. “That’s the real challenge as we go through it, can we keep finding small ways to improve.”
