NFL Notebook, Week 5: Christian McCaffrey’s greatness, coaching carousel, weekly awards

Quinn’s seat is cooking

You might have assumed I’d be talking about the Redskins firing Jay Gruden. Luckily, I already tweeted my thoughts about him after saying last week that he won’t last long in Washington.

Instead, let’s talk about a bigger name who might wear new team colors in 2020: Falcons’ coach Dan Quinn. Sitting at the bottom of the division with just one win, Quinn will need to turn things around quickly if he is to guarantee a job in Atlanta next year.

There’s two sides to Quinn’s sudden of lack of job security. The first is the team’s horrendous defense. The offense is okay thus far; they’re ninth in yards and 19th in points scored.

The issue is that Quinn, a defensive coach who took over play calling duties for the Falcons’ defense, is commanding a unit that has surrendered the second-most points all season. (Yes, they’ve allowed more than the Redskins.) They’re also tied for second in both passing touchdowns allowed and rushing touchdowns allowed.

Excluding the team’s Super Bowl run in 2016, it’s no secret that injuries have plagued the Atlanta defense throughout Quinn’s five-year tenure as head coach. Regardless of the depleted roster, the Falcons have loads of talent on paper.

For a team with young playmakers like Grady Jarrett, Deion Jones, Vic Beasley and De’Vondre Campbell, you’d expect more out of Quinn’s unit, right? Unfortunately, Quinn has regressed as a head coach, as evident by the team’s record since Quinn took over in 2015:

• 2015: 8-8
• 2016: 11-5 (Lost Super Bowl)
• 2017: 10-6 (Lost Divisional Round)
• 2018: 7-9
• 2019: 1-4

With such high expectations and such poor results, Quinn’s days in Atlanta could be numbered.