After another crushing defeat, Falcons coach Dan Quinn was left to explain the inexplicable.
The Falcons were up 26-10 over the Bears in the fourth quarter, but a missed field goal and three three-and-outs in the final fifteen minutes led to a comeback that continues Atlanta's bad reputation of squandering leads.
With the game ending in a 30-26 defeat, the Falcons blew their second 15-point, fourth-quarter lead in as many weeks.
Asked if he had spoken to Falcons owner Arthur Blank postgame and if he was concerned about his job status, Quinn danced around a clear answer.
"We visit every week, pregame, postgame, Mondays through the week," Quinn explained. "All I can do is be in front of the team. They need me to be the same guy on our best days and our worst days. Stand tall for them, bring the energy and the coaching and the focus that we need to go win.
"Anything past that does not help the team, so all I can focus on is us playing better and finishing better. So that's where my focus will be and remains to be."
The Falcons' decision-making came into question after they opted to throw the ball with a lead which neglected the fact that a ticking clock was their friend.
"Those are easy to look back at," Quinn said. "We definitely communicated on those and if you complete them and move the chains then those are the ones to go. Going in, obviously, we're planning on converting the ones that are short, so when you don't have those there are consequences."
Quarterback Matt Ryan maintained the team still has Quinn's back.
"We've got his back," said Ryan, who had seven straight incompletions at one point in the fourth quarter. "We have to play better as players, and that's what you have to focus on. When things aren't going well, it's easy to look around and see what everybody else is doing or where everybody else is screwing up. The only way we're going to improve as a unit is by looking in the mirror and finding ways to improve individually. Make sure we're the best version of ourselves individually when we go out there."
Running back Todd Gurley echoed that sentiment.
"We're always going to be behind coach Quinn," Gurley said. "We know what he means to us.
"We didn't finish for him, we didn't finish for each other, we didn't finish for the brotherhood."
As Quinn continues his sixth season on the proverbial hot seat, the coach is trying his best to put his best foot forward and use what has been a bleak 0-3 start to the season.
"When you're cornered you fight harder and dig deeper," Quinn said. "That's what I think this team will do."
