Arthur Smith’s time in Atlanta was a disaster
Photo Credit: Dale Zanine, USA TODAY Sports
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (PSF) - Despite staying competitive in the NFC South division for the last three seasons, it’s safe to say that Arthur Smith’s time as the head coach in Atlanta was, nonetheless, a disaster.
This past Sunday, the Falcons wrapped up their regular season with an embarrassing 48-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints. In the midst of this, the Falcons were leading the NFC South division just a few weeks ago. Fast-forward to Sunday night, Atlanta ended up finishing third in the division, with a record of 7-10 for the third consecutive year. There is a nightmarish day for some coaches across the NFL called “Black Monday” which is the day right after the last Sunday of the regular season where a lot of head coach firings and resigning’s are announced, and the Falcons wasted no time on Black Monday, where it was reported at 12:01 a.m. ET, that Smith had been fired.
You might ask where it all went wrong for the Falcons after coming into the season with the hopes of their young trio of weapons in tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson were supposed to be unleashed. You can blame it on the mediocre quarterback play of Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke, or you could also blame it on the embarrassing loss to the one win Carolina Panthers a few weeks ago, where tickets were selling for less than a dollar in Charlotte. If you asked me or the plenty of Falcons fans there are, the issue was always Arthur Smith, and the decision to fire him was the best possible outcome for this team’s future.
There was some positivity in the future of Arthur Smith in Atlanta after his first 7-10 season. They were in the last year of their long time quarterback Matt Ryan, who regressed a lot that season, but the biggest bright spot of that season was their rookie tight end, taken fourth overall in the 2021 draft, Kyle Pitts, who had a 1,000 yard season as a rookie tight end. The very next season came the misuse of Kyle Pitts completely, where he was a complete non-factor in the offense, putting up two touchdowns the entire year. Arthur Smith also drafted, at the time, rookie wide receiver Drake London, eighth overall in the 2022 draft. He was completely misused as well. Now we get to this season, where they drafted rookie running back Bijan Robinson, one of the most hyped up running back prospects in recent years, again at eighth overall. Can you guess what I am about to say? Another misuse of a talented young player. It’s kind of crazy when you realize how unproductive this trio was for the Falcons this year. Arthur Smith targeted the backups like Mack Hollins, Jonnu Smith, and Tyler Allgeier more. For the crowd that thinks, “what if these guys just aren’t good as they were supposed to be?” I will say to watch the All-22 film on them. Pitts, London, and Robinson are all very explosive, big threat players that other teams center their focus on in the majority of the games. The worst part about this for the Falcons now is that Kyle Pitts will be entering his fourth season next year and will probably want to be paid as a top tight end, but how is his agent going to compare his stats in the last three years to the other top tight ends in the league?
The Atlanta Falcons have a lot of holes to fix heading into next season. The biggest one comes at the quarterback position. Now, they do have the eighth overall pick again, ironically, and this upcoming draft class is a very deep quarterback class. The downside, after Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, there isn’t really a quarterback who looks to be like a day one starter and future franchise quarterback right away, and both are projected to be top three picks. They also now have to find a new head coach to come in and get this team headed in the right direction. Current Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, would be the ideal choice, but without a franchise quarterback, there are better options out there for him. It really is a shame that Arthur Smith wasted critical years with Atlanta’s young talent, but hopefully they can flourish next year and are all set up for success.