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Photo by Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsStefanski Is Right About the Three Wins. Now Read the Next Column.
Hours after trading Jessie Bates III, the Falcons coach said Atlanta would in no way punt on this season, and backed it with a fact that is true of all four NFC South teams. The column he did not mention has Atlanta nine seeds below the division leader on the same three wins.
Kevin Stefanski said nothing false Monday. That is the problem.
Hours after Atlanta traded Jessie Bates III to Jacksonville, per the Associated Press:
"I think our fans are smart enough to know that in no way, shape or form would we punt on this season," Stefanski said. "We have three wins just like the rest of our division. Obviously not where we want to be. We want to play better but we're very much in the thick of this thing and we trust in the guys that we have."
Carolina 3-5. New Orleans 3-5. Tampa Bay 3-6. Atlanta 3-6. All true.
The next column. ESPN playoff seeds this morning: Carolina 4, New Orleans 11, Tampa Bay 12, Atlanta 13. Nine seeds apart, same win total. Atlanta ties Tampa Bay at 3-6, last by seed, not record.
"The thick of this thing" is seed 13. Atlanta spent Monday sending its best defensive player to a 6-2 Jacksonville team, three games up in the AFC South, for a 2027 second-rounder and a 2028 fifth. The 2028 one.
Smart enough to be flattered is smart enough to read a seed column.
The vindication is not mine. Miles called it in August: the front office had already decided Bates was not part of the answer.
The town is split. At the AJC, Michael Cunningham says the trade "doesn't necessarily mean" Atlanta is giving up and Ken Sugiura reached going-nowhere first. The Falcoholic says "this was the right call" with Atlanta "still being in the race."
On November 8 I wrote that nine games do not hand down a sentence. Still holding. The head coach denied punting on the season with a fact about everybody else.
Deadline: 4:00 p.m. ET. Kansas City comes to Atlanta at 1:00 Sunday, Bates's locker empty. Which half survives that?
The Tilt
Three wins is true of all four of them and it explains exactly nothing about Atlanta.
— Dex Ponce
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