In the middle of Sunday's 38-0 beatdown in Charlotte, embattled Falcons head coach Dan Quinn gathered his team on the sidelines for an impromptu pep talk. It was an unorthodox step for a coach in an unprecedented predicament.
"We talked about poise on the sideline today," Quinn said afterward, per the Charlotte Observer. "We knew that would be an important part of this game. We didn't want to lose our poise, and we wanted to make correct decisions."
But did his team get it?
"They did not," he said. "Both sides (offense and defense) didn't get it. That's totally unacceptable."
The Falcons are in a free fall at the moment. Matt Ryan looks like a quarterback just trying to survive the season and Julio Jones is clearly upset with the direction the team is taking. He was unhappy enough to tell a sideline reporter that the Falcons are just playing not to lose every week.
Amid the loss, Atlanta's defense was completely lost. Cam Newton picked up a second-and-20 on a designed route to Greg Olsen with such ease it felt like the Falcons were playing prevent defense.
So what to make of all this?
The consensus is that Quinn is still a good coach and a good guy, and that it's going to take a little longer than people hoped to turn this team around. The Falcons certainly aren't making the playoffs in 2015 and will have to make the best of a mid-round draft pick thanks to their white-hot start on the season. The most pressing issue might be reinvigorating the core players like Jones and Ryan, who are going to have to eventually carry Quinn out of this mess.
