What is the most important thing we need to do for .... next year?

[jlrfalcon]

It just seems like something has been written that we are going to fall this year to at best a .500 team.  I actually saw them losing this game to Carolina in my preseason predictions (but did not predict the losses to Buffalo and Miami at home).  Maybe there is still a chance to still come out with maybe even a wild card still or maybe something will just click to get us going (like it did with NO).  However, I cannot help but think about next year.

What is the biggest change we need to make next year?

Replace Sarkisian - maybe it is similar to the Shanahan thing and he just needs a season for his work to take hold.  And, if we bring in another OC, does this just mean another season or half-season for that OC to develop?

Get a good FA Guard - bringing in Alex Mack really solidified our offense in 2016 and maybe we just need to give up on Schweitzer and get a solid veteran FA guard?

Pursue a dependable TE - Hooper is just in his 2nd year and really has not had a full time to develop.  He played well in college and just drafting another TE might produce an even less dependable option.  Are there any FA TE's out there to even think about?

Upgrade our secondary - Neal had some good plays today and Alford has been better this year.  Allen has also been one of the best veteran leaders on the defense.  Is Trufant someone we could get rid of (would anybody want him) for something better?

Just be patient - maybe the problem is truly just a hangover and the best cure for this team is just simply time?  The team has a lot of talent clearly from past performance but do we really think blowing up the roster would be a faster way to fixing things?

The team is now 4-4 and probably would need to win at least 6 of its last 8 games to have a serious chance at the playoffs.  2 games are against the Bucs who look even more pitiful than us and 5 of the 8 games are at home including 2 against the division-leading Saints.  However, games like today really expose that something is not right with the Falcons and it may be next year before things get better.