The Atlanta Falcons are an absolute dumpster fire. Any hopes you might have had for them in Week 2 evaporated when they suffered a heartbreaking division loss to the Carolina Panthers with a 34-3 win and the confidence to pull off their first team offense with over two minutes left.
Trying to chalk this up to Atlanta Quarterly issues is a false hope. The Falcons were playing a remotely unprepared team in the back-to-back games that sparked the controversy on Sunday. Something is very wrong with their strategic plan and weekly preparation as Atlanta doesn’t seem like a team that even has a plan to attack Carolina’s defense or understand how the Panthers offense works.
This manifested itself in a ho-hum day from BJean Robinson, who focused all of Carolina’s efforts on stopping and when it comes to quarterback play – a picture speaks a thousand words.
Given their focus on stopping Robinson in the backfield, picking the Panthers apart should have been extremely easy. Carolina left the middle of the field and spread their linebackers wide to prevent the outside run. Some quick slants would have moved both chains, and could have pressured Carolina into a layup — but that never happened. Instead, Cooper Rush and Jack Strand were asked to run the Falcons base offense and failed to do so. They had arms, pocket presence or the ability to do whatever – but Atlanta kept trying the same thing over and over and over again. Bosse rained down the field after every three-and-out, and the Panthers kept running up the score.
It all goes back to Kevin Stefanski, who owns this offense. The Falcons’ offense is not only off to a bad start of the season, but they’re competing to be the worst offense in modern football history.
While the hawk they have To get better at the new QB, to put these numbers in context, the -54.58 EPA raises it to -463.93. The worst offense of the last four years was the 2023 New York Jets led by Zach Wilson. They finished that season at -313.65, making the Falcons’ offense significantly worse and not playing against good defensive teams in Carolina and Pittsburgh.
Atlanta is by far the worst passing team, but it’s completely ruining Robinson’s season, with the Falcons also ranking 26th in rushing EPA. Now they’re on a short week before they face the Packers on Thursday night, when they throw Michael Penix Jr. to the wolves, and I’m not at all sure that the people in charge of Atlanta’s offense are going to put him in a position to win.
Stefanski has avoided criticism for most of his coaching career, winning Coach of the Year awards. This era in Atlanta was supposed to be his chance to showcase his coaching abilities in an organization that was capable of surrounding him, but somehow he managed to make this team even worse in such a short amount of time.
This team is an absolute mess, and they’re going to put it on display for all the world to see. with three Premium games in a row. We did not ask for this. We don’t deserve this. Falcons fans don’t deserve this.
Any discussion of the Falcons means we also need to talk about Bryce Young this week, who is playing as well as any quarterback in the league right now – seriously. It looks like this is the year he finally puts it all together, with his young receivers needing success and an offensive coordinator who knows how to use him.
After all, the game was reduced to a young man in his fourth year. It’s not getting happy legs under stress that it prematurely drops. He had more confidence in his play calling, which allowed him to add more verticality to his game, which all came together.
Young’s stats in two games are impressive: 46-for-73, 648 yards, 6 TD, 1 INT and 1 rushing touchdown.
Josh Allen is undoubtedly on another level right now, but Young really isn’t far behind — and that’s surprising.
Loser: All about the Chargers
This team is a train wreck. Not to take anything away from what appears to be a rejuvenated team under Clint Kubiak and the Raiders under center with the Kirk Cousins - but the Chargers are a team that is much better than they’ve been this season and should be more.
Sitting at 0-2 for them, the next game on the board is a killer row. They face the Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans and Ravens. Especially with the way the team is playing right now, it’s hard to find a game to win for them.
Is this “their year?” He quickly walked away from asking. “Do they have to blow this whole thing up?” The most surprising part of watching the Chargers this year is the amount of rebuilding Justin Herbert has gone through. It’s clear the offensive linemen aren’t all comfortable with the wrinkle McDaniels has installed, and no one plays relaxed natural football. I don’t know where this team is going next.
Which of these 0-2 teams is most likely to make the playoffs?
The NFL has one game left, but let’s take a look at this year’s 0-2 teams after Week 2 Sunday. The Rams could still fall to 0-2 with a loss, but given their preseason expectations, most people still think they have a chance to make the playoffs.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at the 0-2 teams following Sunday. Which of these teams can reach the playoffs this season?
Closes in 3 days • 519 total votes
Winner: New Orleans Saints
The Saints are the best team in the NFL that no one talks about. They pushed the Lions to the limit in Week 1 in a winnable overtime game and then followed that up with a win over the Ravens. Those are the top-ranked teams in each conference, and they made it to the podium both times.
New Orleans is a strange team because they come out of the gates slow, then get caught after lulling their opponents into a false sense of security. Tyler Shaw was caught playing great football, but the Saints’ second-half turnaround became the kings of the NFL.
Kellen Moore’s team is sneaky good so keep an eye on them moving forward.
Rodgers isn’t just playing garbage football in Pittsburgh this season, he’s destroying his own legacy with mediocrity. There’s nothing special about how he’s playing right now, the Steelers have worked to find the pieces to make a playoff push, and it’s blowing up in their face.
At least the Falcons have guys whose QB situation is a complete mess and shouldn’t be playing NFL football, but Rodgers doesn’t have that excuse. He is the most established quarterback in the league right now and is sinking for Pittsburgh this season. Luckily they played the Falcons in Week 1, or they’d be 0-2 now – or maybe that’s a bad thing, because the Steelers need a top pick to find their QB of the future.
The biggest fight going into this weekend was how the Vikings and Bears owners got along, and to put it bluntly: Brian Flores owned Ben Johnson.
Before Caleb Williams went out with an injury, the Vikings didn’t seem fazed by the Bears’ potent offense. Flores went toe-to-toe with a seemingly indestructible Chicago offense and turned them into a complete middle class. If Minnesota can get a halfway decent offense going, they’ll be one of the best teams in the NFL.
Instead, they’re just the best defense in the NFL — and that’s okay.