Falcons fire coach Arthur Smith after 3 straight losing seasons

As the Atlanta Falcons' losses piled up, head coach Arthur Smith seemed preoccupied with what people were saying or writing about him and his team.

When Smith was asked fair questions about the lack of use for his star players, he would usually take a shot at fantasy football. His battles with anyone in the media became a recurring theme.

None of that would have mattered if Smith won more games. He didn't. Smith was fired at the end of his third losing season on Sunday night, the team announced. The news came hours after a 48-17 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints in which Smith took umbrage in how the Saints ran up the score in the final seconds.

Smith went 7-10 in each of his three seasons with the team. The Falcons had an easy schedule his third season and a winnable NFC South. When the Falcons failed to win the division and finished with another losing season, it seemed clear that a change would be made.

Arthur Smith gone after 3 seasons

Smith was in some trouble going into Week 15 of this season, and then a loss to the Carolina Panthers probably made up Blank's mind.

The Panthers were 1-12 coming into that game, while the Falcons were in a three-way tie for first place in a bad division. The Falcons had a few inexplicable coaching failures in the game — a combined 13 touches for Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts and Drake London, benching Robinson for a fumble in the rain, having Desmond Ridder throwing late in the game deep in Carolina territory and watching him throw a critical interception — and Atlanta lost 9-7. It's hard to claim there is any progress being made when you lose to a one-win Panthers team with a share of the division lead on the line.

The easiest talking point with Smith's failures was how he seemingly refused to feature his most talented players, especially Robinson. The Falcons used the eighth overall draft pick on Robinson. That seemed very high for a running back, especially for a Falcons team that needed pass rushers and had Tyler Allgeier coming off a 1,000-yard season as a rookie. At least Robinson was an elite talent and perhaps he could transform the Falcons' offense. But in many games Robinson wasn't a big enough part of the offense, often splitting time with Allgeier.

It was a poor allocation of resources. Smith's constant griping about questions over the usage of his star players didn't endear him to anyone, either.

Falcons can be competitive quickly

The Falcons' job opening won't be an easy sell because the quarterback situation is unsettled. The Falcons decided to never pursue Lamar Jackson, who was on the franchise tag last offseason, despite plenty of salary-cap space. The decision to never consider Jackson and go forward with Ridder turned out horribly, and it could set the Falcons back in their coaching search.

The selling points for the job will be that there is talent, which was often ignored under Smith, and still a good amount of cap space in a division that has been the worst in the NFL two straight seasons. The Falcons were in the division race until late in the season and there's no reason they can't be again next season. There are rebuilding elements to the Falcons' job, but they can still be competitive in the NFC South right away.

Smith couldn't get the Falcons over the hump. He was plagued by bad quarterback play, though he also made plenty of his own mistakes. The Falcons will make sure that the next coach has a better plan, and won't repeat Smith's errors.