Atlanta Falcons Will be Affected by Bruce Arians Hire

Bruce Arians is headed to the NFC South and will now be coaching against the Atlanta Falcons twice a season. Arians is a good coach and could have a big impact on how the NFC South plays out in 2019.

Watching the Atlanta Falcons this past season they often appeared to be overmatched losing games against teams with weaker rosters. One exception to that was their division rival, the Tampa Bay Bucs who struggled to face the Falcons.

That could change this season with the recent hiring of Head Coach Bruce Arians. Changing the look of the division, Arians is a good coach who will help make the Bucs competitive again.

He has already attached himself to current quarterback Jameis Winston, a questionable decision signaling the Falcons still have the upper hand.

Arians is an experienced coach but not good enough to overcome an average quarterback. For multiple seasons he had a good roster in Arizona but could only go as far as Carson Palmer could take them which wasn’t very far.

Palmer was arguably a better quarterback then Winston and has a superior understanding of how to run an offense. While Winston has the better psychical skills, Palmer showed more poise and consistency during his final few seasons in the League.

This poise and consistency were thanks in part to the coaching of Arians who helped rejuvenate the veteran’s career.  The Bucs are hoping this will be the case for Winston who is four years in and still unable to show maturity on or off the football field.

Winston turns the ball over at an alarming rate, he is averaging at least an interception a game and has shown a propensity for fumbling the football. While for some young quarterbacks this would simply be growing pains time may be running out for Winston.

He is entering the final year of his contract and has had many off-field concerns that have some fans ready for the franchise to move on from the quarterback.

Arians is a good coach who is going to make Tampa a tougher team to play in 2019, however, as long as Winston remains at the helm Atlanta is going to have an advantage. While Head Coach matters in the NFL few coaches can win without a franchise quarterback, and Winston hasn’t proven himself to be one.

The Falcons will still boast the deeper roster and better quarterback next season. The hiring of Arians is a wake-up call for Atlanta though, in that they must spend more time preparing and take Tampa as a more serious opponent then they have in seasons past in 2019.