Coming off of the Falcons' bye week coach Dan Quinn announced the decision to rearrange some of the responsibilities of his assistant coaches. Most notable among the coaching shakeup was Raheem Morris moving from wide receivers coach over to the secondary.
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Morris has a background in coaching defense, and Quinn said he will be tasked with helping develop better communication and technique with the Falcons' defensive backs. Atlanta has been one of the top passing offenses while Morris has been with the wide receivers, so perhaps he's the right man to sure up the Falcons' secondary?
"Morris' energy is infectious," ESPN's Vaughn McClure writes. "Those who have followed the team the past few years are familiar with the enthusiasm he instills in players and the intelligence he brings. He also offers 14 years of experience coaching defensive backs at the college and NFL levels. But the 1-7 Falcons, amid a six-game losing streak heading into Sunday's game against the rival New Orleans Saints (7-1), need more than a 'Morris Miracle' to salvage what has been a miserable season."
McClure wrote more about the decision to switch up the coaching staff, which you can read here.
Here are some other articles for Falcons fans to check out today:
ESPN: Ranking the best QBs to never reach a Super Bowl
No position is as tied to his team's success as a quarterback. Fair or not, the reputation of a signal-caller often goes as his team does. Therefore, those quarterbacks who reach a Super Bowl are often held in higher regard than those who haven't. Winning a Super Bowl almost always cements a quarterback as being great. ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently ranked the top 10 quarterbacks to never reach a Super Bowl, and he has Falcons backup quarterback Matt Schaub as the player who just missed the cut.
"The last guy off the top 10, strangely enough, was recently resurfaced Falcons backup Matt Schaub," Barnwell writes. "Schaub posted six above-average seasons as his team's primary starter at quarterback, and if that doesn't seem particularly impressive, consider that about half of the quarterbacks who pulled that off made it to at least one Super Bowl."
To read Barnwell's top 10, click here.
ESPN: Panthers QB Cam Newton placed on IR
It's been a difficult season for Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who has been sidelined with a lingering foot injury since aggravating that injury in Week 2. Now, Newton's season is over. The Panthers placed Newton on injured reserve Tuesday, and the team will move forward with Kyle Allen as the quarterback.
"For the past seven weeks, Cam has diligently followed a program of rest and rehab and still is experiencing pain in his foot," general manager Marty Hurney said in a statement, according to ESPN’s David Newton. "He saw two foot specialists last week who agreed that he should continue that path prescribed by the team's medical staff and that it likely will take significant time for the injury to fully heal.
"We have said all along that it is impossible to put a timetable on this injury. Nobody is more frustrated with that fact than Cam.''
The Falcons will play both of their games against the Panthers in the coming eight weeks, meaning they won't face Newton at all this season. Atlanta has had success against Newton throughout the years, owning a 9-6 record against the former MVP, including wins in five of its last seven games.
Allen has been solid since taking over for Newton in Week 3. The second-year quarterback is 5-1 in his starts this season, and he's thrown for 1,291 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
AJC: Falcons Koo found his way from South Korea to NFL
After parting ways with veteran kicker Matt Bryant, the Falcons brought in Younghoe Koo to handle the job. Koo, 25, has experience kicking in the NFL after a four-game stint with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017. The Korean-born kicker is also a bit of a homegrown talent having attended Georgia Southern where he became one of college football's top kickers and a viral sensation.
Koo also had a brief stint with the Atlanta Legends of the now-defunct Alliance of American Football and was a perfect 14-of-14 during his time there. D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution caught up with Koo on Monday to discuss his journey to the Falcons.
"That experience really helped me in terms of staying ready because you know what it's like in there," Koo told Ledbetter of his time with the Legends. "You know what to expect when you get in the games. You know what kind of routine you need to come up with to stay ready for the next opportunity."
To read the rest of Ledbetter's article on Koo's journey, click here.
AJC: Analyst: Falcons are most disappointing team
NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger has gained plenty of prominence for his breakdown videos of teams, which he posts on Twitter. Baldinger has been critical of the Falcons' play this season in some of those videos, and he spoke with D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to provide a little bit more clarity on that.
"The breakdowns on the back end, you're just giving them touchdowns," Baldinger told Ledbetter. "It just can't happen on the back end. You give up touchdowns and explosive plays on defense when your secondary either breaks down or they miss tackles. All explosive plays on defense come down to the secondary."
To read the rest of Ledbetter's interview with Baldinger, click here.
