The Falcons don’t play this weekend, which under ordinary circumstances would give them time to recover from their labors, though it’s not as if they exerted themselves in Denver. Four minutes and 29 seconds into the game, the Broncos had enough points to win.
The home team scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions. Three of its four first-half drives spanned 70 yards. On those four possessions, the Broncos faced six third downs; they converted five. They amassed 220 yards over the first two quarters; the Falcons managed 226 yards in four quarters.
It wasn’t as if the visitors were doing silly things. Their only turnover came when they trailed 28-6. The Falcons’ issue was that they did nothing. In his 11th professional start, Bo Nix threw almost as many touchdown passes (four) as incompletions (five).
And it wasn’t as if the Falcons arrived in the Rockies feeling fat and sassy. They were coming off the season’s worst loss. They now have a new nadir.
Apologies for telling you what you already knew, but this performance – if what happened Sunday can be labeled as such – baffled and infuriated an observer who was willing to grant these Falcons the benefit of every doubt. Key word: “was.” The only positive in this latest negative is that they can’t play worse.
(Well, can they?)
We knew this team wasn’t apt to win with defense – not having sunk $180 million into a new quarterback and then $22.8M into another new quarterback, not having spent a top-10 pick over four consecutive drafts on offense. That the Falcons again have the fewest sacks of any team is further evidence that you get what you pay for. That they rank 25th in yards against is noteworthy only in that the other three NFC South members rank lower, which figures.
Oh, and that star-spangled offense? Over eight quarters, it has managed two touchdowns. Yee-haw.
We wondered last week if the Falcons were good by NFL standards, which aren’t to be confused with NFC South standards. Their record breaks down thusly: 4-1 against divisional opposition, 2-4 against everybody else. Of their remaining games, three – Raiders, Giants, Panthers – will be difficult to lose. The other three – Chargers, Vikings, Commanders – will not.
I feel duty-bound to note that the Falcons should still make the playoffs, but in typing those words, I hear an inner voice saying, “Aren’t you missing the point?” The Falcons proclaimed themselves ready to Win Now, which is rather different from Winning Because Our Division Reeks. Qualifying for postseason has never been easier; sticking around in postseason will require some doing.
The Falcons are 1-4 against teams at/above .500. Six of the past eight games were against teams that hold losing records. In the other two, they lost by 20 and by 32.
One thing I’ve tried to do over lo these many years is to judge a team the way it judges itself. The best-case scenarios over three seasons under Arthur Smith, none of which came to fruition, involved winning a bad division. These Falcons didn’t buy the best quarterback on the market to stay mediocre. They did it to get good. So how good are they?
They’re 6-5. They haven’t led in their past two games. They’ve been outscored by 30 points on the season. Their next two opponents are 7-3 and 8-2.
Fifteen days ago, I liked what the Falcons were doing. There has been nothing to like since. The loss in New Orleans was awful. What happened in Denver was appalling. They have two weeks to prepare for Jim Harbaugh. I say no more.
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