The ex-Atlanta Falcons head coach discusses his former team's performances this season, who will face each other in Super Bowl LX and the biggest stories in the NFL.
Former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith says his former team’s offence have struggled with inconsistency and admitted it’s been a tough year for the Falcons as they are now 5-9, and out of playoff contention.
He discussed injured quarterback Michael Penix Jr. who he still believes can grow into a good football player, and the future of current head coach Raheem Morris.
In our exclusive interview, Smith also discusses NFC South rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the comeback of Philip Rivers and who he believes will meet NFL betting favourites, the Los Angeles Rams, in Super Bowl LX.
What are your thoughts on how the Atlanta Falcons have performed under Raheem Morris?
It’s been a tough year for the Falcons. They’re 5-9 and eliminated from playoff contention, which is obviously very tough to take.
It’s been a challenging year, so there is a lot of noise, especially around Raheem Morris, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and special teams coordinator Marquice Williams.
Even so, I really like some of the things the Falcons have managed to do this season so far. They’ve been in almost every game they’ve had. The problem is they are 2-5 in those one-score games this season. But they’re not getting blown out, and this is not a team that has given up.
Looking at the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they were down 14 points in the second half and still able to come back. That’s not a team that’s given up or packed it in. That’s a team that’s still playing hard.
There are some things that do give me concern, though, such as the number of penalties and turnovers they commit in big moments. You don’t win close games by making these mistakes.
There’s a lot of noise at this time of the season every year. If you don’t have the season that fans, media and ownership are expecting, people will talk about changes needing to be made.
When it comes to Coach Morris, I believe that two years is not enough time to make a final decision. I think he’s done a great job of keeping his players playing hard despite the fact that they are out of the playoff race. No one is pointing fingers, and no one has quit.
Once the season is over, we’ll see what will transpire. There’s only one person who will make that decision, and that will be Falcons owner, Arthur Blank. There’s going to be a lot of outside noise, but I’m impressed with the way the team has fought and played hard. I think they’ll continue to play hard for Raheem, too.
What are your thoughts on Zac Robinson’s offence?
At times, they’ve struggled on the offensive side this season. But you have to remember, they’re playing their backup quarterback in Kirk Cousins because of the injury to Michael Penix Jr.
It would not surprise me if there were a change in some of the assistant coaching staff at the end of the season. That’s just the way the NFL works.
How did you evaluate Penix Jr.’s performance while he was healthy?
I thought that Penix Jr. was playing like a second-year player who only had a few games worth of snaps in his rookie year.
I still think he’s a talented player, and he can continue to grow. He’s going to be a good football player, and the Falcons are lucky that they have a great backup. Cousins is the best and most expensive backup in the league, but he’s shown he still has something left in him.
Penix Jr. still has what it takes to become a franchise quarterback. He lost a lot of close games, which is going to happen. It’s just a matter of sitting in there and working through it.
Penix Jr. and the offence struggled with inconsistency, but I think that’s down to youth and inexperience rather than something to be concerned about.
What positives can the Falcons take from this season?
I really like the young players. The offence has had inconsistency but with the depth and talent they have on that side of the ball, if they keep everyone together, they can be very strong.
The defence is currently ahead of the offence as they’ve been more consistent. But I like the team’s core right now. On offence, they have two great running backs in Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, and they also have playmakers all over the field.
On the other side, they’ve managed to draft two exciting pass rushers in James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker. They are both guys who can pressure opposing quarterbacks.
That core of young players is who the Falcons need to build around.
You worked under Arthur Blank during your time at the Falcons. How do you think he will handle the process of evaluating coaching staff?
He’ll go through the same process he does every year. There will be a deep dive into all 17 games during the season.
Mr Blank doesn’t really say a lot publicly, but he is involved when it comes to talking to coaches and players. In that facility, he has a very good grasp of what is happening.
Just like any team, they would prefer not to make a change during the season. They’ll let the season play out and hopefully understand that this is only year two, and there’s been signs of growth as a football team. They’ve been in games and with some different bounces of the ball, they might’ve even had a shot at winning the division.
After a strong start to the season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have struggled. Is Todd Bowles on the hot seat?
Gosh, if he is, it’s not right. They were the talk of the league after their start to the season this year. They’ve had a rough patch over the last six games, and their record has suffered.
But when you talk about Bowles as head coach of the Buccaneers, he has three straight NFC South titles. That doesn’t happen all the time. They still might win it this year as well.
I don’t understand the noise surrounding Coach Bowles. I know he was very frustrated after the loss to the Falcons. You could see that in his post-game interview. I’ve never seen him that animated, and he was very disappointed by what happened in that game.
But I think it’s ridiculous to be considering that the Buccaneers might have a conversation about making a change.
As I said, he’s won three straight division titles in one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL. Teams don’t run away with the NFC South.
He shouldn’t be considered to be on the hot seat. He’s done a great job with the Buccaneers, and he’s battled through a lot of injuries to key players. Mike Evans has missed a lot of time, and Chris Godwin has not been healthy either. They’ve had some injuries on the defensive side too, with guys missing games here and there.
When they were healthier, they were 6-2. Then they lost five out of six, and a lot of it is down to the health of the roster. Bowles has coached through it though and is still in a good position to win the division once again.
Despite winning a Super Bowl last season, Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts have faced criticism at times this season. What are your thoughts on this?
This can only happen in Philadelphia. They are 9-5 and have just won a Super Bowl.
When you read the comments, you would think they are third or fourth in their division. They are not. They sit atop the NFC East, and they’re going to win it again.
Those fans can be tough because they are so passionate. They booed Santa Claus. When I was in Baltimore and we were being filmed for Hard Knocks, they tried to turn a bus over when a pre-season game was cancelled. That’s a unique fan base. They are the most boisterous and opinionated fans in all of football, and they will let you know how they feel.
When it comes to Hurts, he was not only a Super Bowl-winning quarterback last year but also a Super Bowl MVP.
Has he played as well as he’s played in the past? Maybe not, but I don’t think there’s been a massive drop-off at all. He’s still leading his team to another division title.
Hurts is a player defences have to contain if they want any chance to win. He is fantastic at both throwing the football and running the football.
Yes, the Eagles have had some issues this year at times, on both offence and defence. But we’re three weeks from the end of the season, and they have a three-game lead in their division.
They’re going to be in the postseason again, and I think they have a great shot of making another deep run.
What are your thoughts on Lamar Jackson’s form since he came back from injury? Should Ravens fans be worried, or could he still be a little banged up?
I’m not sure whether we know the full extent of the injury that caused him to miss time this season. He seems to be playing a little banged up. He’s battling back, but it’s been an uphill battle.
I don’t think we realise the toll his injuries could have taken on him. Physically, it’s been a tough season for him. I think the injury has affected him longer than just the games he missed. I don’t think he’s close to being 100%.
I saw him in person against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he did show some flashes of his old self. He was taking off and making some plays with his feet.
The Ravens have a really tough end to the season. They face the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers before the rematch against the Steelers. The playoffs start now for them.
It’s going to be tough, but I can’t count John Harbaugh and Lamar out. They also have some difference makers on defence. I think Kyle Hamilton is a really good player, and I was impressed when I watched him play.
What did you think of Philip Rivers’ first game back against the Seattle Seahawks?
It was almost an impossible ask for Rivers to look as comfortable as he did in his first game back.
He’s 44 years old, a grandfather, and he’s playing his first game in 1,800 days against the Seattle Seahawks, whose defence is playing unbelievably this season.
It takes a special person to go out there after all that time out and play the way Rivers did.
He didn’t play great, but he played well. He did what they asked him to do and was fairly accurate. His numbers weren’t huge, but the Colts weren’t going to ask him to go out there and throw 45 times in his first game back. That wouldn’t be right.
How impressed have you been with the Houston Texans’ defence?
They are playing elite. It’s so impressive how they play with such physicality. They disrupt receivers, and they force a tonne of drops.
Receivers can’t get open, and if they do make a catch, they’re getting hit hard right away. They’re doing an unbelievable job.
The thing you preach as a coach on defence is that you don’t want to give up yards. But, the most important thing is not letting the opposition score, and they are doing a great job of keeping people out of the endzone.
They can get after the quarterback, and they allow fewer yards than everybody else. They also really excel at not allowing big chunk plays.
They can do everything, and on top of that, they force a lot of turnovers too. My hat is off to that organisation and what they’ve managed to do on the defensive side especially.
They had a little bit of a slow start this year but have done a great job bouncing back. Come January, I don’t think any team will be too excited to be playing against that Texans defence.
Has Shedeur Sanders shown signs he can be a franchise quarterback through his first few NFL starts?
I’m happy for him because he’s been under a microscope from the day he walked onto the field playing for his dad.
He’s shown he belongs in the NFL. There is no doubt about that. The Browns giving him the opportunity to play for the remainder of the season is a great test for him.
He doesn’t have a gigantic arm, but it’s still big enough to be successful in the NFL, and he can make all the throws. You can definitely see by the way he carries himself that football is important to him and that he is willing to dedicate himself to the sport.
There’s always going to be critics, but I think people should pump the brakes on expecting too much right now. We shouldn’t expect him to have great numbers with that Cleveland offence. They’ve got a good defence who are doing great things, but that’s not the same story on the offensive side of the ball.
The Browns will want Sanders to come out and play well in these last few games, so he can solidify that they finally have their long-term quarterback.
My biggest concern for Sanders is that they don’t have the right pieces around him which means he can struggle at times. He struggled against that Chicago Bears defence, who were balling and hitting on all cylinders.
It’s going to be interesting to watch his growth. I wish the sample size we have of Sanders was bigger and that the Browns made the switch to him at an earlier time. I don’t know how forward-thinking they were at the beginning of the season though, given they went through two other guys before handing the job to Shedeur.
How impressed have you been with Sanders’ teammate Myles Garrett as he chases the single-season sack record?
He is a really, really, good football player. He’s maturing into one of those guys who is a generational pass rusher. We’re going to look back and be talking about this guy like we talk about the Reggie Whites, and other elite guys who were big, strong, athletic defensive ends.
Teams want to double-team him all day, but Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz does a great job. Schwartz knows how to move people around, which gives Garrett a chance to rush that passer without facing double teams every snap.
He’s a man who makes it look like he’s playing against boys, and that doesn’t happen very often in the NFL.
The Kansas City Chiefs were eliminated from playoff contention while their superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL. What have you made of a rare down year for the Chiefs?
I think people forget that the way the NFL is set up, you’re not really supposed to be winning back-to-back, never mind winning three Super Bowls in five years.
When you have the level of success that the Chiefs have had, you have to be really creative and clever when constructing your roster.
Brett Veach, Andy Reid and Mike Borgonzi, before he left for the Tennessee Titans, have done a wonderful job of manipulating the salary cap, putting money in the right places, and making the quarterback the bank in terms of restructuring his contract and pushing the money back.
But even with this model, at some point in time, you’ve got to pay the money you’ve pushed back, and that can impact the roster you put together. I think that’s what we’ve seen with the Kansas City Chiefs this year.
This isn’t exclusive to the Chiefs. We see it happen with other teams who have a special run of success.
The Patriots had two decades of success, but it got to a point where Tom Brady had to go elsewhere, because they didn’t have the cap space to one, pay him enough, and two, put a roster together which would contend in the short term. For years, he was the bank, pushing his money back to help them get all those good players, but that can’t go on forever. This is what I see with the Chiefs now.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Chiefs do in the offseason. They could decide on a mini reset or a full one. Either way, Mahomes isn’t going anywhere, but other players could be moved on if it makes financial sense for Kansas City.
Mahomes is a generational quarterback. He’s done everything that the Chiefs have asked of him. Not only on the field but off it too with his contract restructures.
It’s tough to see one of the best players of his era suffer the injury that he did against the Los Angeles Chargers. As football fans, we are really hoping that he has a quick recovery and can get back on the football field as soon as possible.
After a year of bad form and ACL surgery, do you think opposing defences may change the way they defend Patrick Mahomes in 2026? Could they show him less respect in terms of coverages and be more aggressive?
If I were coaching on opposing defences, the last thing I would do is count out Mahomes or disrespect him. Whatever they do, he is going to be tough to defend.
If they want to make him throw into zones, he’ll beat you in that game as well. If you want to send blitzes to pressure him, that could be instant death for your defence.
I don’t think he’s had a drop-off. The numbers might not be what they were, but you have to remember he had Tyreek Hill and a younger Travis Kelce at the start of his career. So, it’s normal for the numbers to not be what they were.
But he is still a special, generational quarterback who has got a lot of wins left in his career.
Is Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence starting to figure out the NFL?
He has gotten a lot better this year. I think a lot of that is down to the new regime in Jacksonville. Liam Coen is an outstanding football coach from the Sean McVay tree.
He’s the son of a coach as well, so he’s been around the sport forever. He understands the nuances of quarterback play as he played the position at the University of Massachusetts.
I think he’s been the guy who has been able to connect the most with Trevor Lawrence. Sometimes it can take a little bit of time for a player, but when they get the right coach, it can click. That is what has happened in Jacksonville.
With Coen and Lawrence, people around the league know the Jaguars are going to be a team to be reckoned with. Not only this year, but for years to come.
Coen has done a great job of putting together a strong staff on both sides of the ball. They look like a completely different team than they looked in years past.
Under Coen, Lawrence is showing why he had the hype coming out of college and why the Jaguars drafted him first overall. He’s been very impressive as a passer, and you can’t downplay what he does with his feet as well. He has the ability to run the ball and create plays on his own. He’s done this all year.
When you have a quarterback who can go through reads, throw the ball like he can or reel off a 15-yard run, those are signs your quarterback is not just good, but great. And he is finally on his way to becoming a great quarterback.
He’s still very young, but he’s just going to continue to blossom. They couldn’t have picked a better time to start playing their best football, and I’m happy for them.
They’ve done a great job, and they picked the perfect guy when they hired Coach Coen.
Teams like the Patriots, Jaguars, Bears, and Broncos have surprised some with their records at this point. Do you think any of these teams will struggle when it comes to playoff time?
I felt Denver was going to be a good team. I think they made a great decision when they hired Sean Payton.
In New England, they played a lot better than I anticipated, but all these so-called surprise teams are hitting on all cylinders right now.
I don’t look at any of them and think they’re going to be exposed in the playoffs. They might not win, but they’re going to show they belong in the postseason. They’ve got good players, and all these teams are coached very well.
What stands out to me as well is that all these teams are being led by young quarterbacks. We could be seeing a preview of what the league is going to look like for the next five or six years.
When I look at these teams, I think there is a very good chance that one of them could be holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy this year. It could happen very easily.
Which two teams do you predict will face each other in Super Bowl LX?
I think that the team that’s going to come out of the AFC is the Buffalo Bills.
I have a good feeling that this is the year that they’re going to break through and have a chance to win a world championship.
On the NFC side, I really like the Los Angeles Rams. I like the way their season has flowed. I think they do a great job when it comes to getting personnel in, and they also have a great draft philosophy.
Les Snead has done a great job when it comes to building the roster, and we all know how elite McVay is as a head coach.
I think both the Bills and Rams are well-balanced teams too. They have explosive offences led by great quarterbacks in Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford, who also both have experience in big games. Both teams play pretty solid defence too.
Barring any major injuries, these are the two teams I think will win their respective conferences.
