You know a situation is messed up when fans and outside critics like me somehow come to an agreement: Cooper Rush cannot start another game for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons quarterback situation is, somehow, the most depressing and discombobulated in the NFL despite that fact that Deshaun Watson is still out here in Cleveland. That quarterback situation has direction; it's a depressing direction, it's not a direction anyone really wants to be heading, but it's direct, like the one Agamemnon took home from Troy before getting murdered by his wife. Atlanta? Atlanta is like the rest of The Odyssey. Where are we going? I don't know, but we're going to have the worst time.
Rush gives the Falcons no chance to win so try something else?
I am in complete agreement with Atlanta Falcons Reddit about what's wrong with starting Rush: he gives them zero chance of winning. What chance does undrafted rookie Jack Strand give you? Well ... it might be zero, but there's a non-zero chance that it is not zero, therefore it is worth a shot. They kept four QBs on the roster, might as well use them all.
You can really feel the "swing pass to Bijan" energy in this chart pic.twitter.com/MOoOqedSJI
— Oliver Fox (@oliversfox) September 15, 2026
Rush suffers from terminal backup syndrome. He had some effective games on the Cowboys, but the book is very much out on him at this point. He was 12/22 passing, usually a figure reserved for the date of December 22 rather than a football box score, and all but two of his completions were either behind or within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Next Gen Stats (seen above) had him underperforming his expected completion percentage by 13.7 percent, which might just be a fancy way of saying "he missed the few ambitious throws he actually attempted."
Jack Strand is not a good option, but Atlanta never gave themselves good options
I don't think Jack Strand is ready, nor is it a remotely coherent way to run your NFL franchise to be starting undrafted rookies at quarterback in Week 2. But none of Atlanta's process has been coherent, and now it's about doing what is defensible. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are not a team anyone was afraid of this season, Atlanta just never had a chance.
Out-and-out tanking doesn't really happen in the NFL, but the Falcons are in desperate need of a savior at quarterback. Their roster is too talented to naturally lose a bunch of games in that joke of a division they play in, but at least give yourself the opportunity to be surprised by Strand, and if it's a disaster? Well, it would have been a disaster anyhow.
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