It was all over. Just 260 days before the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina had strolled to its fourth straight victory and beat Mike Smith’s team into submission at the Georgia Dome. An emphatic 34-3 loss highlighted everything wrong with the 2014 Falcons, and it was brutally clear change was needed.
“Right now, we’re nowhere near as good as we’re going to be” – Falcons head coach Dan Quinn after victory over Eagles.
Among those changes was the hiring of Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator. Shanahan’s future is as an NFL head coach, but for now the Falcons benefit from his zone blocking scheme.