Falcons Turn to ‘Plan D’

“We were on the hunt for a right guard when Chris Chester retired, and we knew Wes was going to be right in that mix, and he battled his ass off, both he and Ben (Garland), and he won the job fair and square.

Most of the talk on the Falcons since Super Bowl LI has focused on one of two things the collapse in that game and blown leads early this season, and the loss of Kyle Shanahan and the offense’s struggles.

This Falcons team picked apart all year is one of eight left standing, and one win over a Nick Foles-led Eagles group from returning to the NFC Championship Game.

In this week’s Game Plan, we’re going to hit you with a lot of rumors from the NFL’s annual job market; explain why Brian Gutekunst was the right pick for right now in Green Bay; dig deeper into where Foles holds Philly back and where he doesn’t; show you how Lane Kiffin was a big part of Jon Gruden’s demise in Tampa; and break down the strong leverage point from which Kirk Cousins will operate.

But we’re going to start with an Atlanta contingent that was doubted, and seemed almost spooked, earlier in the season and somehow lived through it to strike Midnight on the Rams’ Cinderella season last weekend, and head into this weekend as a very real threat to repeat as NFC champion out of the bracket’s final seed.