National Football League

Arthur Blank: Falcons will 'let the season play out' with Arthur Smith

Published Dec. 20, 2023 2:23 p.m. ET

The Atlanta Falcons are coming off a miserable 9-7 loss in the rain to a Carolina Panthers squad that is now 2-12, dropping the former to 6-8 and one game out of first place in the NFC South.

Is head coach Arthur Smith coaching for his job down the stretch of this season?

Falcons owner Arthur Blank recently punted on giving a firm answer.

"We are committed to Coach Smith. We are going to play these last three games; we are committed to win. We will let the season play out and go from there," Blank said in an interview aired Tuesday with Georgia Public Broadcasting. "Obviously, this has not been the kind of year we expected; you would hear that from Coach Smith, you would hear it from our fans and our players. We understand that; we understand the challenges. At the end of the year, we will assess where we are and go from there."

Blank later said that Smith didn't have a playoff mandate this season, rather the "requirement" was to field a more "competitive team" and that the Falcons "have to put a product on the field that represents the best of our roster."

The Falcons are 20-28 across Smith's three seasons at the helm (2021-present), featuring a pair of 7-10 campaigns prior to 2023.

Atlanta began the season with second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder as its starter, but he has been benched multiple times for Taylor Heinicke, who will now be under center the rest of the way.

Across the 13 games that Ridder has appeared in this season (12 starts), he has totaled 2,528 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and an 82.2 passer rating, while completing 63.3% of his passes. He has also rushed for 193 yards and five touchdowns.

On the whole, Atlanta has struggled to manufacture offense, averaging just 327.2 total yards (19th in NFL) and 18.4 points (tied for 26th) per game. Atlanta's defense has kept it afloat, surrendering just 311.7 total yards (10th) and 19.9 points (eighth) per game.

This coming week, Atlanta hosts the Indianapolis Colts (1 p.m. ET and can be viewed on FOX and the FOX Sports app), followed by road bouts against the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints, who they beat at home in Week 12.

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