Well, it was bound to happen. Arthur Smith was unceremoniously "ways-parted" by the Atlanta Falcons after three seasons of ineffective football. Yesterday's game was the writing on the wall. The Saints scored a touchdown when they were already up big, which caused Smith to blow his stack at New Orleans coach Dennis Allen. This moment symbolized Smith's tenure in Atlanta as many fans seem to blow their stack after another heart-crushing defeat. Now, owner Arthur Blank has to start over and find someone to take the Falcons to the promised land.
Speaking of Arthur Blank, ever since he purchased the Falcons in 2002, Mr. Blank has been in a patch full of bad luck. He signed Michael Vick to an enormous extension, only to find out that he was running an underground dogfighting operation. He hired Bobby Petrino to lead his franchise into the future, only to have him resign 13 games into his first season and slither off to Fayetteville where he would damage his reputation by damaging his bike and almost damaging his marriage by having an affair. Then, there is Super Bowl 51. We all know what happened there. Whatever the case, Atlanta has been hexed.
Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush here. Arthur Smith was a trend hire back in 2021. After Dan Quinn's departure, Arthur Blank decided to go in a different direction and bring in an offensive mind in Smith. He probably liked his first name, also. Smith had a strong pedigree as offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, but not to where he was considered as a strong candidate to become head coach anywhere. It seems as Blank wanted anything to take the Falcons back to the top and forget that Super B.......pump the brakes and I will get back to this later.
The first-round picks in Arthur Smith's tenure were Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Bijan Robinson. All were offensive players, and all were misused. Pitts was the #4 pick in the 2021 draft and the highest pick as a tight end. He has shown potential, but most of the time, he hasn't. London is also a player who has shown all of the potential in the world. Unfortunately, subpar quarterback play and injury issues have stunted his growth. Bijan's issue is that the Falcons already had Tyler Alleger and Cordarrelle Patterson on the roster. There was no need to draft him. Despite that, Bijan could be lethal when he is the main focal point in the running game. What's worse is that the team has ignored the high draft picks to help the defense. When you have to depend on Calais Campbell, in his mid-30's, to provide for pass rush, then you are screwed.
If you are wondering why Atlanta is desperate to find their way back to the top and seem to be stuck in neutral is that they want to surpass that faithful February day in 2017 where they were in the NFL's biggest game. Everyone will point it out and will tie anything to Atlanta sports with a certain score. It has become a wrench stuck in a gear for the Falcons and they will do anything to have people forget that infamous game.
But as of now, the curse will render in the ATL.
(For more content check out our Facebook page, our website @www.realsportsmarksaz.com and the Wix mobile app)
Comments