A once-promising season for the Atlanta Falcons quickly spiraled out of control as 3-2 turned to 4-9 over the course of the last two months. With Christmas right around the corner, it feels more like Groundhog Day to long-suffering Falcons fans.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris took the job in 2024 with what was considered a playoff-ready roster. If the Falcons overestimated their roster, he certainly took the job with playoff expectations.
After a 6-3 start to his tenure, the Falcons are 6-15 since. The heat is on Morris to finish strong, but longtime NFL reporter Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post thinks it’s too late.
“Atlanta Falcons Coach Raheem Morris is as good as gone,” La Canfora wrote in his state of the NFL column.
Morris was asked on Monday if he felt he still had the support of Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank.
“He is 100% in support of me,” Morris answered. “The support isn’t an issue. He is absolutely outstanding, and his ability to listen to us, his ability to be there for us, his ability to be in it with us is absolutely 100% awesome, and it’s everybody. It’s all hands-on-deck mentality with the organization, and I can’t say enough about that.”
While Morris has mastered the art of talking a lot without really saying anything, many fans took his answer to mean Morris was safe from the chopping block.
However, Morris was likely being more candid in saying that the reason the Falcons are 4-9 isn’t because of a lack of support from Arthur Blank. Blank has given the staff everything they need to be successful, including hundreds of millions of dollars in cash for free agent signing bonuses.
Morris said in the same presser that he understood the pressure on him, in essence acknowledging that support doesn’t necessarily translate into future employment.
“It’s not. For me, that’s the price of doing business,” Morris answered when asked if his seat being hot made it harder to do his job. “You don’t put yourself in these positions to worry about those things. As a leader, you’ve got to stand up in front of people and answer the questions, the hard questions, and you’ve also got to stand up and be a good example for your guys in how you go and finish things, and you can’t have difficulties in finishing and then go sell it to your guys.”
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“I look at guys like Bijan [Robinson]. I look at guys like Drake [London]. I look at guys like Chris Lindstrom and everything that I know that they pour into this football team, Jake Matthews, and everything that they pour into this football team. You want to give it back to them,” Morris said.
“You want to give it back to them full fold. Kaden Elliss going out there and hurting his arm and going back in and finishing that game. Those things matter to me, and those players matter to me. So, I’m going to give them everything I got.
“So, to be selfish and think about my own personal stuff? No, that’s not right. I’m going to give these guys everything, and this organization everything I’ve got.”
Morris is a genuinely likable personality for the Atlanta Falcons, quite the opposite of his predecessor. That said, the results are what matter in the NFL, and those have been far from good enough in Morris’ two seasons in charge.