Atlanta Falcons BLAME GAME Reveals Coaches and Players FAILING to Do Their Jobs

Atlanta Falcons BLAME GAME Reveals Coaches and Players FAILING to Do Their Jobs

Who’s the blame for the Falcons current failings? Is it the coaches, the players, or the front office? Oh, as you can guess, it’s all of the above. [Music] You are Locked On Falcons, your daily Atlanta Falcons podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome back everyone to another illustrious episode of the Locked On Falcons podcast. Your daily Atlanta Falcons podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And today’s episode is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week’s Moving the Game Forward. Mazda, move and be moved. So, on today’s Locked On Falcons, we will be discussing why Zack Robinson is not getting nearly as much heat. On this podcast in 2025 as he got in 2024, uh, news flash, buddy, the Falcon Center is also not necessarily carrying his weight and he’ll get some heat today. And Rich McCay, why why is there still heat for Rich McKay? But that’s all in store for you on today’s episode. And if you don’t know who I am, I’m your humble host, Aaron Freeman. been covering the Falcons for almost two decades, formerly at falfans.com. RIP, still going strong on this illustrious podcast. And I think each and every one of you that go strong with me as everydayers. That means you make this podcast your first listen each and every day. Uh, and all you got to do become an everyday subscriber, follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. So today’s episode is kind of a bonus episode, part two of a conversation I had with Jarvis Davis of Locked on Sports Atlanta. Uh, part one aired yesterday. That was where we really, you know, looked deeper into the specific upcoming matchup in week nine against New England Patriots. Uh, but the latter half of that episode was uh really all kind of about the the blame game. It came about due to Rich McCay, the Falcons CEO and former GM doing an interview on the radio and locked on Falcons insider wanted me to get my mine and Jarvis’s thoughts on that. And you know, every dayers know that this is kind of a pet peeve. So rather than than that being like a 5minute conversation, it wound up turning into like a whole 20-minute conversation. So it was like, okay, let’s just make this a whole part two. Uh, but we’ll talk about Rich McCay at the end. But we’ll start off today’s episode talking about why I have not been as willing to blame all the Falcons issues on Zack Robinson this year despite arguing arguably being Zack Robinson’s biggest OP uh this past offseason. And so let’s get into that. Uh to start off today’s Lock on Falcons, like this whole blame game. Um and I got a comment the other day on a video when I was talking about the film and I was talking about Zack Robinson, right? And as someone who is like the OG critic of Zack Robinson, people are like, “Why are you not being as hard on Zack Robinson this year as you were last year?” Well, part of it is expectations, right? I’ll clarify this, but like last year went into last season with high expectations. Then we got the infamous, as we often call it here on Lock File, was the Bruno game that we don’t talk about in that week one game. And I was like, uh oh, uh what what was that? You know, and then he kind of won us back. And then late in the season, there was some for me a lot of major concerns with the the play action stuff. And so we spent a lot of time this offseason talking about, well, if this offense is going to be successful, if you’re going to successfully develop Michael Penn, you’re going to have to be able to figure out the play action. I was skeptical the whole time. This is one of the reasons which fuels, you know, my alter ego, also known as negative Nancy, aka Mr. Drew, uh, this offseason of why I wasn’t not necessarily as high on the team as others. Um, and so all that to basically say my expectations were considerably lower with Zack Robinson entering the season. And so for me, in a lot of ways, he’s kind of met my low expectations. And so there’s some elements like I think the Washington and Buffalo game were clear signs of progress from what I wanted to see. Sure. We haven’t seen that consistently this year. I’m willing to kind of give Zack Robinson the rest of the season to kind of figure it out because to me at the end of the day when you talk about sort of people wanting the coaches to get fired, you know, like to me that reckoning has to come at the end of the year. that is not necessarily something that the Falcons can really engage in. Now, you know, if they they lose six straight games or something like that, then we can have a legit conversation about that. But like, you know, until we reach that point, like it’s it’s, you know, these coaches will be evaluated at the end of the year. And so, for me, like I I do sit here not having high hopes for what Zack Robinson is going to deliver at the end of the year. And and again, that reckoning will come should it come at the end of the season when it comes to his status. But it does leave me, and I think you made a great point, Jarvis, when you’re like, you got to watch the games because I’m watching the games and like I’m seeing people being like, oh, the reason why the Falcons couldn’t run the ball is because Zack Robinson’s offense is too predictable. Look, you could certainly argue that Zack Robinson’s offense is too predictable. That is certainly an issue. I I agree 100% with that. But when I’m watching Charlie Warner trip in a hole and miss on a block or I’m watching, you know, uh, Ryan Nel who’s been in the same offense for five years whiff on blocking assignments on the second level, like that’s not a play calling issue. No, bro. And and we’re talking about the defense and they haven’t been able to stop the run. And my my frustration with this Jarvis is like with the blame game. What what happens is, you know, if you’re one of these people that have been preaching for 10 years with Rich McCay, like he’s the the the root of all the problems or now you’re like Zack Robinson’s the root of all the Falcons problems is that you watch the games and you just cherrypick all the things that that fit your conclusion. You’ve already come to the conclusion on this guy’s the problem. all the problems stem from this guy and if we just replace this guy. And what to me it does is it kind of causes people to think that the Falcons are much closer as a team because it’s just like oh we just got to replace the coach and once we replace the coach everything’s going to work. And I going back to the Bejian point and again not to sit here and say that Bejan’s the problem with the team right far from it. But to me, like what happens is we ignore all these other issues when the team isn’t playing well. And we sit there and say, “Oh, like all these problems are just going to go away because some coach is going to come in, walk through that door, and just solve everything with the snap of his fingers.” And it’s like, if you don’t have guys that can make blocks, if you don’t have guys that can cover, if you don’t have guys that can tackle, if you can’t kick field goals, if you can’t win the field, like Bradley Pinion botched the punt last week, right? Like these are the things that cause you to lose football games and they get ignored because people have already decided, well, this one person or these two people are the reason why we’re losing games and we’re just going to ignore it. And then we get to the following season and none of these problems get addressed and all these issues show up again and then all of a sudden people are like, well, I guess maybe Ryan wasn’t the answer the long-term answer at center or maybe this guy wasn’t the such and such. Not to throw anybody under the bus, but like it’s things like that that frustrate me because we don’t actually watch the games. We just sort of cherrypick whatever we want that we’ve already decided that we want to blame the problems on and just kind of ignore the rest. And far too often with the Falcons, my frustration is the team then does that and just basically says like, “Oh, well, you know, after the 23, it’s like we’re just a quarterback away and if we just get a good quarterback in here, this team is going to work.” And then it’s like they still have all the same issues that we were having conversations, you know, two, three years ago. So J, I mean, what are you talking about? No, no. I’m just saying like, man, that’s that’s what happens when you have people who just like to stoke the flames when it comes to talk talking about this team. People who get paid to talk about this team, they like to stoke the flames. Like they just want to lead the charge and and not really get into the real issues. So because if you lay out the real issues, that’s why I enjoy coming on here because you talk about the real issues. You don’t talk about surface level stuff, man. So like the fact that you know you’re putting that out there and I know for me I’m just going off what I see like and I’m watching the Don game so and we have it and it’s good to have these type of dialogues because you get a really good picture of who this team is, right? Like I coming into this year, I think you if you I know you probably agree, man. This probably the first year that I was actually felt okay or I didn’t feel bad about the defensive line group and the depth they had and their ability to even get to the quarterback based off of the guys that they have on the roster fully based on mostly based on talent, not from not even from production standpoint. So, you know, and you think about it, it’s been a long time and everybody, you know, going crazy last year when um Jimmy Lake, it wasn’t all Jimmy. Shoot, nobody don’t go. They had nobody getting to the quarterback on a consistent basis. So, yeah, if he saying if he playing off coverage cuz he don’t want to give up the big play and he don’t want to blitz because I don’t know who going to be back there to cover it all. You know, like it’s just a catch 22. Like it’s just a lot of people that’s and then that’s when you have people are nitpicking their narratives, you know, saying, “Okay, oh man, look at him. They giving up, you know, it’s like they’re playing a prevent defense.” No, you know, he basically going off of his personnel and that he has on the field and and he he playing he playing the averages. you like, okay, I more than likely won’t get beat if I run couple four, if I go to two high most of the game or if I have my corners playing eight to 10 off or regardless of down the distance. You know what I’m saying? Like that’s just how it works. So, you know, I I think that, you know, to avoid this going forward and hopefully we can as a as a base, you know, as a fan, I’m a fan as well, you know, and you continue to do this do the work spreading the good news. You know what I’m saying? I know I’m going to try to continue to spread the good news as well when it comes to this team. And people need to understand that it takes a lot to build a team, man. You know, the Lions were awful. Dan K Dan Campbell’s first year and based off of the time frame that this B fan base gives head coaches. Shoot, y’all been trying to get the man out the door, you know, before it actually hit, you know what I’m saying? Or you trust Brad Holmes, you know, as a general manager. So, yeah, man. Like, I’m not I’m not in the whole bag of just firing folks just cuz, man. Like I I felt like I believed in Raheem Morris when he was hired. I’ll stand on that. I ride with that. Get a man a dog on chance, man. Like a year and a half in, bro. If you talking about firing, dude, do you understand how hard it is to find somebody that’s even capable of being a head coach in this league. So yeah, it’s Yeah. Stop paying attention to the people with the with the pitchforks and just pay attention to folks who actually talking about what’s going on on the field, man. Yeah. So, we still have more to come on the nature of the blame game and how it potentially ignores real problems on the football field. And one of those problems this past Sunday against the Dolphins was the play of the Falcons center in particular. And so news flash, Ryan Nel, you you need to catch a little bit more heat uh than you’re currently getting. And we’ll get into all of that, guys, as we continue today’s lock on Falcons. But today’s episode is brought to you by Mazda’s moving the game forward. For those who believe it’s not just about playing the game, it’s about redefining it. There are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, they move culture, and they keep the game moving forward. This week’s moment that moved the game forward is the explosive play from Kyle Pittz from Kirk Cousins under center play action. What a revelation seeing Kyle Pittz attack the middle of the field. Oh my goodness. I’ve never seen this before. So that really moved the game forward. Set up the Falcons first score early in this game. Uh and unfortunately that was one of the few highlights from this game. But you know, when you follow what moves you, right? Understand the play action. The unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there’s more to every highlight, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda, move and be moved. Today’s episode is also brought to you by FanDuel with the NF NBA season back. It’s time to get in on the action over at FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of tip off or you just want to ride the hot hand Fandles, going to have those live bets on everything from who will score next to any fourth quarter comebacks and you can combine those live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps the every game exciting, especially when your team is making a late push. So, head on over to fanduel.com and if you’re a new customer, you can get $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Again, over at fanduel.com. Download the FanDuel app and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the MBA. I feel like there are real issues on the field that are causing the Falcons. Yeah. And I I just feel like it allows folks to pass the buck of like, well, we just got to if we just get the right play caller in here and it will solve all of our problems. And it’s like, are they going to is is the new play caller going to allow the guy to hit the block, you know, or you know, all those things are just like those are the things that matter, you know, like and again, like I’ll be the first person to be on here, you know, at the end of the season if if things don’t go the way that we all want them to go and being like, yeah, you know, here’s here’s my 10point, you know, PowerPoint presentation on why Zach Robinson didn’t work and all that stuff. But like um you know I just feel like we can’t just simply just ignore you know and this is we’re running long and I’m have to edit the crap out of this episode. But you know for sure got to get these tastes not nonsense. You know what I’m saying? But this is this is why often I have a reputation of being a hater because like I watch the games and I’m like yeah man they’re not that good. like they have good players, but as we talked about like with Bean, like those good players have to play well consistently every single week because once you get past like the top six guys on this roster, it becomes very ordinary and and unless you can consistently get that middle class group of players to play above themselves, which we have seen at times this year, but it hasn’t been consistent. And when your best players aren’t playing well, like you can’t just simply just be like, “Oh, well, this team is so loaded.” And any other coach can just come in here and be able to take, again, I know I’m picking up Ryan, but like any other coach can come in here and just be like, “Well, Ryan is now going to hit his second level.” Like, if if my man is not hitting these blocks five years into the same offense, like I don’t think that’s a coaching issue. That’s like, you know, so that you know, we’ll see if Ryan News can quiet the noise. He is. Look, that’s on your heart. You know what I’m saying? Ryan News is on your is on your heart. And that dog on Atlanted. You know what I’m saying? Out Atlanta. What? What was the verb that he used? Outant. Atlant. Yeah. Yeah. Out Atlanta us. You know what I’m saying? They need to erase those two things. Or you can have the type of performance that gonna make free forget about out Atlanta and dog on Ryan news. Yeah. You know, remember during the summer Jarvis we were talking about Javon Gwen and we’re like Javon what what are you doing my guy because he was doing this same exact thing. It’s like it was there’s no excuse for it when you’ve been in the offense for three years. Like you should know especially when you’re the center you should know ex like you should know everybody’s job and you should know your job backward and forward. Sure. And like that’s why it’s frustrating where it’s just like it would be one thing if he was a rookie or like if the Falcons had drafted Jared Wilson who they’ll be playing this weekend against the Patriots and they were like, “Well, Jared Wilson, we’ll throw him out there.” And he’s just figuring it out. It’s like, “Okay, well, he’s going to have some ups and downs. He’s a young player, all that stuff.” Yeah. You’ve been in this office for five years. Like there is no excuse. That’s why you don’t draft a guy like that, right? You know what I’m saying? Yes. Because you got guys who’ve been here, you know? You know, and so like I’m sitting here going like we sat here and we killed Javon Gwyn for this stuff. And I like I’m supposed to give Ryan Nel a pass when you know he’s doing the same thing like he’s looking like Javon Gwyn and we were sitting here you know again Javon was like I didn’t do nothing I ain’t even playing but like we were like why is Javon Gwyn here like what is what is it you do and like watching the game Sunday and I’m like Mr. News because again part of it is he has played much better than this. I’m like watching the game. I’m like, “What is it that you’re doing?” Because you’re not doing anything today on on against the Dolphins. So like I’m like, “What are you doing here?” I know. So So speaking of what exactly is it that you do here? Let’s talk about Rich McKay, uh, who caught some heat this week on a local radio appearance in a lockdown Falcons Insider. Wanted to get my and Jarvis’s thoughts on this. So, we’ll get into those thoughts and how much blame are we still willing to give the Falcons CEO, who has not been part of the football decision-making process, at least on the field, uh, for a number of years, to wrap up today’s lockdown Falcons. So, let’s be real, making excuses doesn’t solve anything. We’ve all heard them before. It’s just a stress. I’m tired. Well, it happens to everyone sometimes. What you know when it comes to performance, sometimes your body just needs a little extra support. And that’s where Rouette comes in. Ruette offers fast acting doctor prescribed treatments for ED designed to help you stop making excuses and start making moves. Rugette makes it easy to get started. You just connect with a boardcertified physician, 100% online, no awkward waiting rooms, no in-person appointments, and if prescribed, your treatment is going to ship discreetly directly straight to your door. So visit rouette.com/lockton. That’s rugg.com/lockton NFL. And you’ll get 15% off your first order. That’s ruggit.com/lockedonfl. And don’t forget to use our code locked on NFL so that they know we sent you. Rouette, stop making excuses. Start making moves. For those of you missing and uh missed it, uh Falcons CEO, I want to get the title right. Uh Rich McKay recently went on 680 the Fan uh local Falcons Atlanta uh sports uh network um to do some I guess PR for a big donation that Arthur Blank made but you know 680 was like hey quit quit pro crow my guy like we we got to talk Falcons at the same time so you you’re gonna have to take you know you’re gonna take this heat about yeah we about to put this thing on 500 real quick. Yeah, you know, timing timing is not great. Not not the great, you know, great job Arthur Blank doing what you do. Sure. But, you know, people you need to smoke right now. Yeah. Yeah. People do not care about philanth philanth can’t say the word philanthropy at this stage given where the state of the Falcons season is at. And so, a lot of heat. But Jarvis, you know, I I bring this up just because I had a lockdown on Falcons insider sort of being like, you know, can you talk about this on the pod with Jarvis? And we’re talking about it here on the pod with yourself. So, I’m curious, Jarvis, if you heard, uh, some of that interview uh, and what were some of your thoughts coming out of that with sort of, you know, Rich Mccay sort of clarifying his role within the organization, what exactly he does and because he’s been longtime punching bag for fans and media. uh about like all the things that are going wrong with the Atlanta Falcons. And so of course the timing is perfect where it’s just like we need somebody to to to blame all these issues on Rich McKay. Oh, he popped his head out. So I’m just curious what did you think when you when you heard some of those clips? Why are we still talking about Rich McCay? Man, I don’t understand it. The man clearly has Can Raheem Morris go up here and ask him a question about something? Sure. If Terry Fondo is not sure about a player or he wants some feedback off the a trade he’s about to make or Yeah, man. I’m waffling back and forth. I would love to get you get some advice from me. Sure. Yeah, he’s around in that capacity, but anything official? No, not at all. I don’t think that is the case. And I think that it kind of goes back to what what we talked about a little bit earlier. People just want blood, man. But Rich McCay, I understand Jamal Anderson was a awful pick. That was a a terrible going away gift. You know what I’m saying? But hey, man. Yeah. Yeah. We need That’s a tired That’s a tired I’ve been in this market for a very long time narrative. And I’ve been covering this team for 20 years. That’s all that is. Yep. And I don’t care who sees this. If you work over there, like, man, y’all need to stop, bro. Like, because y’all making the people who listen to y’all dumber. You know what I’m saying? Like, if you gonna go out, if you gonna blame someone, blame Terry Fo. Blame blame blame Raheem Morris. I know I just talked about y’all being a little bit too harsh on him, but man, but Rich McKay ain’t it, man. That is so tired to me. It’s so tired. It’s such a tired narrative and it’s a go-to when things go ary with this team. And it needs to stop, man. It needs to stop. I am so sick and tired of people bringing up Rich McKay’s name when the Falcons are sucking. Like, find something else. Find a player. Find a assistant coach. You know, at the end of the season last year, what did your boy say? I said, “Hey, man. Jimmy Lake and this Dline coach, they got to go based off what I saw, man. Give me something. Give me some type of analysis, bro. is saying that Rich McKay is the issue and grilling him on a at an event where he’s supposed to be talking about Arthur Blank, his boss/homeboy, is doing all the good that he’s doing. Come on, man. Like, that is tired to me. And people and then they pound their chest. I was asking a tough question. No, man. I care about all that. What they going to do? Make you feel better? Nobody cares. Yeah. Nobody cares, man. It’s tired, man. It’s tired. I’m tired of hearing it. It’s so tired. Yeah. So tired. Couldn’t send it better myself, Jarvis. You know, just like, bro, what we talking about? Rich B has more to do with what type of coffee filters are in the office at Flowery Branch than necessarily like what the the product is on on the football field at this point in time. So, so that’s the end of our show and we’ll be back with a postgame uh episode on Sunday following uh the Falcons Patriots game after that final whistle hourong on Lockdown Sports Atlanta and Locked on Falcons streamed on YouTube uh as well as posted on both audio feeds on you know wherever you get your podcast after the game and then followed up with a 30 minute locked on Falcons solo rapid reaction with myself. Uh that lock on Sports Atlanta postgame, that hourlong show will be myself, Jarvis Davis, Tenitra Batis giving you all our thoughts on all the things going on in this Patriots game. And uh part of me is sitting here guys because we’ve spent so much time including today kind of revisiting rehashing complaining about this Dolphins loss uh and how you know it it kind of really kind of derailed a lot of our hopes and you know the apathy that locked on Patriots host Nick Cattles mentioned that we had been talking about on the various shows at the beginning of the week. You know, I feel like we haven’t really done a great job here on the podcast to really preview this week nine game. We we’ve talked about it obviously some, but you know, not with the level of depth that, you know, this podcast, this very humble illustrious podcast typically affords. And so I do feel like I’ve given you guys a little bit of short shrift. And so part of me is thinking like we might do another episode where we take a deeper look into this Patriots game. Um just because it hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as typically we give it. Uh just because Dolphin game really really kind of just ruined everything for for the Falcons. And um you know there’s there’s a chance there could you know again as I say I’m apathetic so they’re not going to win me back but you know maybe they can win some of you guys back and I I think uh we we’ll maybe we’ll talk a little bit more. So that may be also coming your way depending on how how my mood feels uh for you guys on Saturday uh on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. So continue to make LT Facers your first listen by checking us out on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. And if you uh want to get insight into, you know, other teams that are probably doing better or potentially worse than the Falcons, locked on NFL is going to have you covered there. Uh giving you all the scoop on what’s going on week nine uh across the NFL. Uh and of course, Locked On, just like Locked On Falcons and Locked On Sports Atlanta, is part of Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Atlanta Falcons fans are demanding answers after another disappointing loss, but who really deserves the blame? The truth is far more complex than pointing fingers at one coach or player. Host Aaron Freeman and Jarvis Davis (@LockedOnATL) break down why offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s criticism has shifted since last season, expose the dangerous habit of cherry-picking narratives while ignoring execution failures, and specifically call out center Ryan Neuzil’s inexcusable performance issues after five years in the same system. The discussion tackles the tired Rich McKay narrative that refuses to die and reveals fundamental problems that no coaching change will magically fix. From Bijan Robinson’s struggles to Terry Fontenot’s roster decisions, no stone goes unturned in this honest assessment of where the Atlanta Falcons stand.

#atlantafalcons #nfl #miamidolphins #newenglandpatriots #zacrobinson #richmckay

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