Atlanta Falcons Coach Mike Smith Fired After Another Losing Season

The Atlanta Falcons have fired coach Mike Smith after yet another disappointing losing season. They still had a chance at the playoffs with a win on Sunday, but perhaps Smith would have still been out of a job.

The Atlanta Falcons finished the season with a record of 6-10, and struggled to win the important games. However, due to the rest of the NFC South playing poorly throughout the season, a record of 6-9 heading into week 17 could give them a shot at the playoffs.

The winner of their final game of the season would decide which NFC South team went to the playoffs, but after the 34-3 result, the Panthers clearly wanted to be in the playoffs more, and clinched the last spot by destroying the Falcons.

Mike Smith has been fired by the Atlanta Falcons, but did have success in some years, and has been with the team for seven years. Prior to being hired as the head coach of the Falcons, Smith was the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003 until 2007.

Mike Smith did excellent job getting #Falcons from point A to point B. But the time had clearly come for a change. Team isn't that far away.

— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) December 29, 2014

Rich McKay: You can't give Mike Smith and Thomas Dimitroff enough credit for stabilizing this franchise. We are going to build off that.

— Atlanta_Falcons (@Atlanta_Falcons) December 29, 2014

Ironically, the Atlanta Falcons had been undefeated in the division before Sunday, but the Panthers easily changed that, and the Falcons had no chance from the beginning. Aside from the NFC North victories though, the Falcons had only won one other game all year.

After losing to the Panthers, the Falcons season concludes, but the Panthers will host the Cardinals as the No.4 seed in the first weekend of the playoffs, ironically the only other team that the Falcons had beaten in 2014 outside of the NFC South.

During his time with the Falcons, Mike Smith took the team to the playoffs four times, although they had a postseason record of 1-4, and struggled when it truly counted.

The team struggled greatly in 2013 with a record of 4-12, and the team decided on a major overhaul in the team’s roster. The firing of Mike Smith did not come as a surprise after such a disappointing season, and now the Falcons will need to move on and think about next year, while also receiving the 8th draft pick.

[Photo Credit: Youtube]

Atlanta Falcons Coach Mike Smith Fired After Another Losing Season