Call it radical, irresponsible and unprecedented, but what if the 2016 Atlanta Falcons had fired Dan Quinn after the 28-3 Super Bowl collapse and promoted offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan — the coach getting most of the credit for their success that season and Matt Ryan’s MVP award — instead? Shanahan was already committed to leaving the Falcons for the San Francisco 49ers, but the results since 2017 speak for themselves.
Quinn was fired after an 0-5 start this season, something Atlanta wouldn’t do after starting 1-4 in 2018 and 1-7 in 2019.