It’s been quite a few weeks for Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon.
Ten days ago, his interaction with running back Emari Demercado resulted in a six-figure fine. On Wednesday, his walk-off answer during a midweek press conference was a show stopper.
“How early in your career did you have to start trying to figure out how to take the emotion out of coaching as far as when you have all these injuries and you have all these different pieces?” a reporter asked. “When’s the first time that you can recall that?”
Said Gannon, without missing a beat: “2007, when our quarterback went to jail.”
Next came a second or two of total silence, until someone said, “Coach, thank you!”
Gannon was referring to his first NFL season. He’d come to the Falcons from Louisville with head coach Bobby Petrino. Gannon was working as a quality control assistant on defense in Atlanta.
That July, Mike Vick was indicted on federal dogfighting charges. Later that year, Petrino abruptly left for Arkansas.
Gannon spent the next three years in scouting with the Rams. He returned to coaching in 2012, with the Titans. And his career ascended from there.
This year, it’s going the other way. And he’s working for a franchise that has never had the same head coach longer than six years.
Gannon is in year three. Although today’s comment won’t be relevant to whether he gets a fourth, the odds are growing against him to get a fourth.
When the Dolphins visit the Browns on Sunday, something rare will occur. Beyond the fact that one of the two 1-5 teams will actually win a football game (unless they tie).
For the first time in 19 years, a pair of left-handed quarterbacks will square off in an NFL game when Tua Tagovailoa and Dillon Gabriel meet for the first time.
It last happened on September 17, 2006. Buccaneers at Falcons. Chris Simms vs. Mike Vick. After failing (once again) to properly answer a trivia question in which a quarterback named Simms was the right answer, Chris rattled off his memories of the 14-3 Atlanta win, in which he threw for a career-high 313 yards. The Falcons unveiled the read option for the first time ever, befuddling the Bucs’ defense with both Vick and Warrick Dunn rushing for more than 100 yards.
But, yes, that’s the last time two left-handed quarterbacks started an NFL game. A reader planted the seed, and we did the research to confirm that there has been no other lefty vs. lefty contest since then.
There haven’t been many left-handed quarterbacks in the past 19 years. Others during that window include Jared Lorenzen, Tyler Palko, Matt Leinart, Pat White, Tim Tebow, and Kellen Moore.
Currently, there are three: Tagovailoa, Gabriel, and Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
It most likely won’t be 19 years until the next all-lefty game. In Week 8, the Falcons host the Dolphins — and Tagovailoa will face Penix.
The Falcons picked up a big win over the Bills on Monday night in Week 6 and running back Bijan Robinson did a lot of work to get them that 24-14 victory.
Robinson ran 19 times for 170 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown in the second quarter that pushed Atlanta’s lead to 14 points at halftime. Robinson also caught six passes for 68 yards in his most productive day so far this season.
The NFL named Robinson the NFC offensive player of the week in recognition of that effort. It’s the first time that Robinson has ever taken that prize.
For the season, Robinson now has 83 carries for 484 yards and two touchdowns to go with 24 catches for 338 yards and a touchdown. His 822 yards from scrimmage lead the NFL through six weeks.
Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews has started 184 consecutive regular season games, but that streak is in some jeopardy heading into Week 7.
Matthews had to leave Monday night’s win over the Bills after injuring his ankle in the third quarter. On Tuesday, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said that Matthews is considered day-to-day while noting that it would take a lot for him to miss a game.
“We know who he is,” Morris said, via Terrin Waack of the team’s website. “We know that he doesn’t miss something. We’ll just have to see. But I feel really positive about him and what happened based on not having any idea last night.”
Michael Jerrell took over for Matthews against Buffalo and would be in line to be the first player other than Matthews to start at left tackle for Atlanta since 2014.
The season began with a rollicking, intoxicating, come-from-behind, night-for-the-ages win against the Ravens. Through six weeks, where are the Buffalo Bills?
They started 4-0. They were regarded as the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl. They’re STILL the +650 favorite to do what they’ve never done, with the Chiefs just behind them at 7-1.
Let’s take a look at what the Bills have actually done this year. Their win over the Ravens doesn’t look nearly as impressive as it did at the time, now that Baltimore is 1-5. And the Bills had to make a late defensive play to fend off the 1-5 Dolphins. Then, the 1-5 Saints had a chance to beat the Bills in Buffalo. The only convincing win came in Week 2 against the 0-6 Jets.
In all, the Bills’ four wins have come against teams with a combined record of 3-21.
Since then, Buffalo has lost a pair of prime-time games — against the Patriots in Week 5 and last night against the Falcons. Now, Buffalo has extra time to get ready for a visit to Carolina, where the Panthers have the pieces to do what the Falcons did to them.
As Devin McCourty said on Tuesday’s PFT Live, the Bills got bullied in Atlanta.
Throughout the game, quarterback Josh Allen looked bewildered. And the team collectively seemed to think he was one play away, at any given time, from turning the eventual loss into a win.
So, yes, the Bills need to do some soul searching. They need to get key players healthy. And they need to reverse the current trend, or they could exit the Week 9 game against the Chiefs at 4-4.
There’s a chance that, beyond Allen and running back James Cook, the Bills just aren’t good enough.
It’s good for the notion that anything can happen. It’s bad for a Bills fanbase that was eyeing February flight options and hotel accommodations in the Bay Area.
