He will probably be let go, but to be honest? I wouldn’t mind keeping Sark another year...

[Macintez 1,308]

Sark is not the reason the offense failed. 

 

The piss-poor offensive line is the reason.

No offensive coordinator, no QB, no skill-player, no system will thrive without an offensive line. It is a must have for any team to succeed. What coordinator can thrive in spite of that? Now there are special coordinators that are hands on with the blocking scheme like Shanahan and Kubiak and even McCarthy but honestly I thought our offense line sucked for the last 4 years... We can’t run the ball when it counts, which I absolutely HATE! Has anyone noticed that we have to use the threat of the pass game to open the run game? That is backwardsass football. Build these trenches, give the QB+skill-players another year, and let’s establish some type of cohesiveness for the sake of being able to win in the future. Sark has made some bass-awkward playcalls but if the o-line can’t hold a block for more than 2 secs what good is a different coordinator going to do? 

 

NOT A **** THANG!!!!

[Gold4425 1,194]

He was put in a difficult position following Shanny. But it is not his fault TD didn't give him a true, stud OG or Schader was going to have a bad year or did he trade Toillio.

[mc 699]

Lol. Shotgun on 1/2 yard line. Yea. Not his fault.

[A Dog Named Brian 2,143]

My two biggest things with Sark is he doesn’t seem to make in-game adjustments and he still doesn’t appear to always know how to exploit matchups, which just shows a lack of creativity to me.

If we end up going with a new OC and call on Bevell, I’d much rather keep Sark tbh. 

Edited December 26, 2018 by A Dog Named Brian

[jlrfalcon 2,150]

This is the compassionate side of you talking - you feel sorry for the guy like he will never get another job once the Falcons let him go.  However, he is young and may have to go back to a college program but will definitely not be unemployed after a short time off.

The guy had 2 years to prove that he could produce a top-notch offense that already had lots of talent and had clearly succeeded under the prior OC.  Instead, for his first year, the excuse was that he had to transition and was not using "his" playbook.  The offense, though, was largely healthy and its real struggles were in the red zone.  And, for his second year, he lost his top RB and a couple of guards but perhaps had improved play from his TE and a good couple of rookies at WR and backup RB.  Still, the offense clearly has continued to decline over the last 2 years.

Do we take the chance that it will suddenly improve in his 3rd year simply from adding one or two OL?  What will the excuse be next year after a decline - injuries or a lack of production of RB's to blame since Coleman left and Freeman has another concussion?

It is hard to let a guy go who has been part of a team but keeping him around is like feeling sorry for Schraeder and letting him play RT again.

[HotLantaFalcon 756]

yeah it's not 100% his fault this season went down the toilet the way it did ... but after the expectations to start to the season to have it end up 7-9 or 6-10, like in the movie National Treasure, if you steal the constitution "somebody's got to go to jail" ... for the falcons it's "somebody's got to get fired" (and you know it's not going to be TD and they're pretty much taken Quinn's name out of the hat sooo)

[KCFalcon22 228]

I agree with keeping Sark for a few reasons: Matt and others don’t have to figure out another offense/tendencies, he’s continued to get better, if players execute more then most ppl on the board are not talking about getting rid of him, they’d be talking about how/why to keep him.

[RubberDucky 3,665]

My Issue w/ Sark:

 

If his original game-plan isn't working, we are f***ed. If we aint scoring in the 1st half, we may as well throw in the towel, cause he aint making any adjustments to get it going in the 2nd.

[⚡Slumerican⚡ 3,352]

I don't see Sark going anywhere. If he is let go it's because he's not keeping the offense disciplined.. Not the play calling on game day 

[UnrealfalcoN 2,560]

Only replace sark if we have a viable replacement. Offensive guys like Mcvay, Peterson, sean payton, shanahan etc. Are ballsy and they exploit matchups and make adjustments in game. Sark needs more experience but can we afford to be that patient?

[Dirtybird3 2,249]

Sark over Bevell all day long 

[HEIST 4,649]

No1 gets more chances for doing less.

 

edit: I guess Marvin Lewis.

Edited December 26, 2018 by HEIST

[JD dirtybird21 9,396]

Sark gets the most undeserved criticism on this message board. Shanahan’s magical 2016 season has severely clouded the expectations of several people. It’s made them delusional. Sarks offenses in his 2 years with the team have been ranked in the top 10 in yards per game. Has he done a great job? No. But he has done good enough. OP pointed out the offensive line which is a great point and another unfair criticism on Sark. I would also double down and add Freeman. Should the falcons let Sark go, they really aren’t going to get someone who will do better than what he’s delivered. And that’s because it’s not really his fault. Fix the O-line, get Freeman back, and the offense is much deadlier

[R_The_Great 2,856]

Do what ever it takes to get to the 2016 magic.  The fact, the Falcons hurt themselves and let the rest of the NFL pass them by is on them. 

[ChickenBiscuit 4,224]

1 hour ago, JD dirtybird21 said:

Sark gets the most undeserved criticism on this message board. Shanahan’s magical 2016 season has severely clouded the expectations of several people. It’s made them delusional. Sarks offenses in his 2 years with the team have been ranked in the top 10 in yards per game. Has he done a great job? No. But he has done good enough. OP pointed out the offensive line which is a great point and another unfair criticism on Sark. I would also double down and add Freeman. Should the falcons let Sark go, they really aren’t going to get someone who will do better than what he’s delivered. And that’s because it’s not really his fault. Fix the O-line, get Freeman back, and the offense is much deadlier

I don't think delusional is the right word. 2016 exposed us to what Ryan is capable of with proper coaching and scheming. It's not that our expectations are too high, it's that we expect our production to match up to the level of talent we have. 

Ryan deserves better. So does Julio.

[1989Fan 6,481]

10 hours ago, Gold4425 said:

He was put in a difficult position following Shanny. But it is not his fault TD didn't give him a true, stud OG or Schader was going to have a bad year or did he trade Toillio.

What stud lineman did Shanny have that’s a Sark doesn’t? Chester wasn’t a stud, he was right in line the guys we have, but maybe a better run blocker. 

[1989Fan 6,481]

4 hours ago, ChickenBiscuit said:

I don't think delusional is the right word. 2016 exposed us to what Ryan is capable of with proper coaching and scheming. It's not that our expectations are too high, it's that we expect our production to match up to the level of talent we have. 

Ryan deserves better. So does Julio.

Ryan statistically isn’t too far off 2016, though the eye test definitely showed a different Ryan in 2016. Not sure if it was confidence in the scheme or what....

[Vandy 23,599]

We have a Top 10 offense, and a bottom 10 defense. 

Yeah, let’s fire the OC and keep the DC.

 

[Jesus 14,966]

If Sark goes it's to coach somewhere else, probably college.

[russ7000 699]

I dont understand why we won't focus on the O - Line knowing this makes Ryan a better QB and he does not function well with out one

 

[Kung Fu Kenny 1,621]

1 hour ago, Vandy said:

We have a Top 10 offense, and a bottom 10 defense. 

Yeah, let’s fire the OC and keep the DC.

 

 

[etherdome 4,497]

12 hours ago, mc said:

Lol. Shotgun on 1/2 yard line. Yea. Not his fault.

With the OL we have, why not?  Seriously, putting the QB a few yards back allows him a split second longer and better field vision.  

It is not an ideal situation, but under the circumstances, not unreasonable.  

[Big_Dog 4,887]

I like Belichick's winning theory. Get an A-One coaching staff and replace 25% of your players each year that fail to perform.

Result: several Super Bowls and a jam packed stadium forever.

[JD dirtybird21 9,396]

7 hours ago, ChickenBiscuit said:

I don't think delusional is the right word. 2016 exposed us to what Ryan is capable of with proper coaching and scheming. It's not that our expectations are too high, it's that we expect our production to match up to the level of talent we have. 

Ryan deserves better. So does Julio.

So be mad at the front office for not building an O line to protect Ryan. He’s reached a career high in hits this season. Yet, he’s STILL producing. Look at his stats, they essentially match the 2016 season. Ryan hasn’t changed. Neither has Julio. The team has. It’s not Sark. 

[Sun Tzu 7 9,423]

This is the true problem with beating teams in worse disarray than the Falcons at the end of the year.... people think maybe it wasn’t that bad.

People forget how lost the Falcons looked against good teams instead of the bottom feeders.

“It’s not Sarks/Manuel’s fault that players got injured and they continued to try and run the same offense/defense and make no changes to account for the personnel.”