It's a question seemingly asked at some point - usually a bottoming out, the day after a lopsided loss perhaps, for an obviously bad, poorly constructed team - in every NFL season: have the guys quit on their coach?
It's rare though, that a question like this emerges for a team currently in first place in their division.
But this is the very spot we find ourselves in, as the Atlanta Falcons, sitting atop the NFC South with a somewhat-less-than-sterling 4-6 record, continue to find ways to win ugly, but at the same time can't seem to find a way to shake the questions that have dogged them since Mike Smith's team's first playoff letdown in 2008.
Yes, the Falcons have won two in a row. Yes, they're leading their division and could possibly make it to the postseason. But no, they're not a Super Bowl contender, and their potential ability to make it to the playoffs is so much less about the strength of their team and more about the dumpster fire that is the NFC South, a dumpster fire that has allowed them to collect a 4-0 division record, and the stupidity of NFL postseason rules.
During Atlanta's current win streak, they've managed victories over the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the currently crashing and burning Carolina Panthers - certainly nothing to write home about. The Bucs are 2-8 this season - they've ping ponged between quarterbacks Josh McCown and Mike Glennon, and have made it abundantly clear that they'll be revamping the roster come the off-season. The Panthers, with a clearly hobbled Cam Newton, haven't played a truly competitive game since tying the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6.
The win streak doesn't mean they've righted the ship, and it certainly doesn't mean they're back to their winning ways. They're 0-6 when they play outside their division and their schedule becomes infinitely harder in the next several weeks.
Mike Smith is a good coach. Thomas Dimitroff is a good general manager. But that's all. They're good. Not great, not Super Bowl-worthy. Just good.
And they've lost the team.
Owner Arthur Blank would do well to pay attention to playoff performances more than double digit regular season win totals when deciding what's best for the organization moving forward. Yes, they won 13 games in 2010 and 2012, 11 in 2008, Smith's first season with the team, and 10 in 2011.
But playoff failures and injuries have broken this team's spirit. Quarterback Matt Ryan - he of the "Matty Ice" moniker, given because of the supposed ice that flows through his veins during the games biggest moments - has proven himself anything but unflappable. Yes, he's got twice as many touchdown passes as interceptions this season, but he's 1-4 in the postseason (h/t Pro-Football-Reference) and their most recent playoff game, a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, saw Ryan and the team cough up a 17-point lead en route to a 28-24 loss.
Ryan, like Smith and Dimitroff, is good, not great. He'll do just enough to keep the team in the game, in the playoff hunt, but he won't take them to the Promised Land. Not without serious help from other aspects of the roster.
And that help isn't coming - not for this team, and not during this season. The defense is currently giving up over 400 yards a game, the worst mark in the league (h/t NFL.com).
In fact, a matchup this weekend against a tough Cleveland Browns team, led by a quarterback in Brian Hoyer not nearly as highly touted as Ryan but playing just as well, will very likely expose them for the frauds that they are.
