Photo by Atlanta Falcons, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsNobody but Me Can Be Wrong by Thursday
Three of the four national voices who put Sunday's loss on Atlanta's quarterback posted before the game ended, two of them at Carolina 7, Atlanta 0. All four aimed at the quarterback and none of them said who starts Thursday.
The national verdict on Atlanta's quarterback was in before the game was over. Three of the four voices that pinned Sunday on the position posted while it was still being played. Two of them posted at Carolina 7, Atlanta 0.
Kurt Benkert, three Atlanta seasons on the practice squad and injured reserve and zero regular-season snaps, posted "Unserious franchise." twenty-four minutes after kickoff, quote-posting an Underdog NFL card on Cooper Rush halfway through the first quarter: one completion, one interception, one fumble lost. Shannon Sharpe, same quarter, same score, called Rush terrible: "He keeps landing jobs." Louis Riddick, third quarter, Carolina 34, Atlanta 3, thirty-eight minutes before the final: "QB situation in Atlanta infecting/spreading to the entire team."
Rob Gronkowski at least waited for the final. On the FOX postgame show, per Heavy and EssentiallySports: "a waste of talent with Kyle Pitts, their tight end" and "they need a quarterback as soon as possible."
Same target, all four. Nobody named Thursday's starter.
The only fix Gronkowski put a name on was hand it to Bijan every play. Bijan Robinson got it 16 times Sunday for 72 yards and caught three for nine. Atlanta ran for 157 and never snapped it inside the 20. Three points, total. Handing it to Bijan was not the idea Atlanta was missing.
Kevin Stefanski, per Local 3 News, said the club would look at answers and "not pinpoint one position." Four national voices pinpointed it, three of them before the final.
So what is actually available by Thursday night, September 24, at Lambeau Field? Not more Bijan. Not a trade, which none of the four proposed. A quarterback, and the club has named none as of this morning. The Michael Penix Jr. report is a report. Mine is on the record since Sunday night: not Rush, graded Friday.
All four aimed at the quarterback. Not one of them can be wrong by Thursday. I can.
The Tilt
A quarterback verdict posted at Carolina 7, Atlanta 0 is a reflex, not a diagnosis.
— Dex Ponce
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