FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – One game remains on the 2018 schedule for the Atlanta Falcons (6-9), who will finish their year on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-10) on Sunday, and that's all offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian says he's worried about right now.
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"My goal and my focus right now is on Sunday," Sarkisian said when asked about his standing with the organization. "And that hasn't changed since Week 1, and that hasn't changed for anybody in the building. Our goal and our focus is on going and playing a great game in Tampa on Sunday, trying to get our third win in a row, and deal with whatever we have to deal with after that."
There have been recent reports indicating the Falcons could be among the NFL teams to make adjustments to their coaching staff this offseason. Dan Quinn has said that he and general manager will evaluate the performance of the Falcons in 2018 once the season has come to a close.
Atlanta's offense this season under Sarkisian has been very good at times but has also seen a dip in production for stretches.
Entering the final week of the season, the Falcons rank eighth in yards per game (382.5), 11th in points per game (25.3) and they have scored a touchdown on 63 percent of their red zone trips, compared to 50 percent in 2017. Atlanta has the fifth-best passing offense, averaging 285 yards per game, but it is just 27th in rushing offense with 97.6 yards per game on the ground.
But Sarkisian isn't thinking about any of that with preparation for the Buccaneers still to be done.
"You control what you can control in this business and what I can control is going out and getting our guys prepared and going to play a great game on Sunday in Tampa," Sarkisian said. "When you start trying to worry about what other people control or emotions of other people and whatnot, that's when you get yourself in trouble and you get distracted and you don't do the best job that you can do. You stay focused on the task at hand."
