Five Moments That Defined Dan Quinn’s Falcons Tenure

Super Bowl 51 was the worst moment of Dan Quinn's head coaching career but what were the other four moments that may have cost him his job.

Like any business, production is necessary in order for the business to thrive. 

That is no different for a professional football team. 

The Atlanta Falcons have failed to produce a winning product since 2017.

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was fired on Sunday.

He was the Falcons head coach for the last 5 and 1/4 seasons.

It was inevitable that the Falcons would make coaching changes after the continued poor play by the team.

The only mystery was whether changes would come during or after the season.

Quinn did have some good moments as a head coach for the Falcons but let’s take a look at what his top five worst moments and how they played an impact on his firing.

There is no doubt what the number one worst moment is for Quinn and for the Falcons franchise so let’s go in reverse order beginning with No. 5.

No. 5

Quinn’s first year as head coach was in 2015. 

There was a renewed energy in Atlanta. A fresh face and Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator was taking over the underachieving Falcons. 

The season started off great for Atlanta. 

They went 6-1 in their first seven games. The Falcons looked like a team poised for a playoff run. 

Those aspirations faded fast, the Falcons lost their next six games and finished 2-7 in their final nine games bringing their record to a mediocre 8-8. 

This was the first time that “finishing strong” would be a reoccurring issue for the Falcons.

No. 4

Last season the Falcons had one of their worse starts in franchise history.

Atlanta began their 2019 season going 1-7 in the first half of the season. Two of those games the Falcons had the lead in the second half and they lost both of those games by a combined four points, to the Indianapolis Colts and to the Arizona Cardinals. 

Atlanta Falcons at Indianapolis Colts 2019

The public wanted Quinn to be relieved his duties then, yet he was given a chance to turn things around. 

The Falcons did go 6-2 the remainder of the season and finished 7-9 missing the playoffs for the second year in a row. 

After such an atrocious start to the Falcons season, it was imperative that Quinn and the Falcons start hot in 2020.

No. 3

The Falcons did get a hot start to the 2020 season but it only lasted in each game for three quarters. 

Atlanta gave up its largest lead since their Super Bowl collapse in 2017 and it happened in back to back weeks. 

The Falcons had a 15-point lead going into the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys. Nearly 14 minutes later the Cowboys were within one score and the Falcons were getting ready to receive the onside kick.

All Atlanta had to do is recover the ball. That would’ve given the Falcons the ball with the ability to run out the clock and end the game. 

The Falcons did call timeout to prepare for the unusual onside kick. 

Dallas Cowboys recover their onside kick against the Atlanta Falcons

But something either wasn’t said or they didn't understand what to do. Either way the Falcons didn’t recover the ball, instead they watched in roll 10 yards and watched the Cowboys jump on the ball. 

A few plays later and Dallas kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. 

The Falcons’ players and coaches looked shocked as well as anyone with two eyes. 

The pressure was on Falcons' owner Arthur Blank to make the decision to fire Quinn. Quinn maintained his job even though his team failed to maintain leads. 

It happened again, a week later Atlanta blew another double digit lead. This time it was to the Chicago Bears and this time the Falcons had a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Bears defense celebrates after intercepting Matt Ryan late in the fourth quarter

Most people were thinking “There is no way the Falcons lose this game."

Meanwhile in Atlanta, everyone was thinking “Oh no, not again!”

The Falcons failed to hold off the Bears comeback and the Falcons had now blown 15+ point leads in back to back weeks. Those losses were possibly the final straw.

No. 2

The 2017 Falcons had a lot to prove. 

They were coming off arguably the worse Super bowl loss in NFL history. 

It was important for this team to prove their previous season wasn’t a fluke and that they were actual contenders. The Falcons did a great job in the regular season of showing they can play with the best teams. 

The Falcons finished third in the division but were able to make the playoffs as a wild-card team. 

The Falcons won their first playoff game in convincing fashion against the L.A. Rams. 

Their next game was against the Philadelphia Eagles and their backup quarterback Nick Foles. Everything was in the Falcons favor to make a return to the NFC championship. 

Bad news, that "finishing strong" problem reared its ugly head again. 

Dan Quinn , Divisional round playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles

Atlanta had 10-6 lead in the second quarter with 1:54 on the clock with the ball. Three straight passing plays without another first down. The Falcons squandered and excellent opportunity and were forced to punt.

Eagles ended up scoring a field goal before the half. Bad prevent defense and the inability to tackle eagles’ players inbounds cost the Falcons.

Fast forward to the last drive of the game. 

The Falcons trailing by only five points, were able to get the ball up to the Eagles 9 yard line with 1:19 left in the game. Once again the Falcons looked to be in great shape.

Atlanta passed the next 4 plays. 

The Falcons never ran the ball or tried any of the things that got them to that point. 

It was a head scratcher. 

Atlanta lost the game and were eliminated from the playoffs. This game may have been the loss that finished the “brotherhood”. 

The Falcons never made it back to the playoffs under Quinn.

No. 1

Not only is it Quinn’s worst coaching moment, it is also the Falcons worst moment in their 54-year history. 

Unless you just started watching professional football today, then you know about the Falcons epic Super Loss in 2017. 

Atlanta had a 28-3 lead in the third quarter and were unable to finish. They eventually lost the game in overtime to the New England Patriots. 

That loss, like the previous mentioned above point back to the head coach. It is up to the head coach to ensure everyone is on the same page and that everyone understands the gravity of simple mistakes. 

Matt Ryan walking to the locker room following the Patriots Super Bowl comeback win

Why didn’t they run the ball? Why are they unable to finish games? 

There were so many questions and still so much heart ache. The Falcons have only played in two Super Bowls and this was as close as they got to a victory.

Atlanta and Quinn will forever be tied together because of that horrific evening in February.

The Falcons inability to finish out games was Quinn’s “achilles heel” and ultimately what led to his demise as Atlanta's head coach.

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