Skip Bayless picked the first quarter of the Atlanta Falcons‘ Thursday night game against the Green Bay Packers to reopen one of the biggest questions from Atlanta’s offseason.
With Kevin Stefanski coaching his third game for the Falcons, Bayless openly questioned why Atlanta moved on from Raheem Morris at all.
The timing made the take stand out even more. Atlanta entered Lambeau Field 0-2, but after Bayless fired off his post, the Falcons took control and carried a 24-7 lead into the fourth quarter.
Skip Bayless Questions Falcons’ Kevin Stefanski Hire
Skip Bayless went straight at Atlanta’s decision-making while the Falcons and Packers were still in the first quarter.
“I still can’t figure out why the Falcons fired Raheem Morris, whose team tied for the division last year, and hired Stefanski coming off 3-14 and 5-12 seasons???” Bayless wrote.
The first part of his argument is grounded in how close Atlanta came in 2025.
Morris’ Falcons finished 8-9, the same record as the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carolina won the NFC South on the tiebreaker, leaving Atlanta out of the playoffs despite finishing in a three-way tie for the division’s best record.
That wasn’t enough for owner Arthur Blank.
The Falcons announced Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot were fired after the season, ending Morris’ second full stint as Atlanta’s head coach after consecutive 8-9 finishes. The team went 16-18 under Morris from 2024-25 and missed the playoffs both years.
Atlanta then hired Stefanski, who had just finished consecutive losing seasons in Cleveland. The Browns went 3-14 in 2024 and 5-12 in 2025 before his run there ended.
Those records are the part Bayless zeroed in on.
Falcons Respond With Best Showing Under Kevin Stefanski
The part missing from Bayless’ post is why Atlanta was willing to look beyond Stefanski’s final two Cleveland seasons.
Stefanski won AP NFL Coach of the Year twice with the Browns, first in 2020 and again in 2023. Cleveland went 11-5 in his first season, made the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and won its first postseason game since the 1994 season. The Browns returned to the playoffs in 2023 at 11-6.
AtlantaFalcons.com’s Terrin Waack reported that Falcons president of football Matt Ryan pointed directly to that résumé when Atlanta introduced Stefanski in January, calling him an accomplished coach who still had “a lot to prove.
Thursday night began looking like Stefanski’s first real answer in Atlanta.
The Falcons entered the game having scored only 16 points through two weeks and without running a single offensive play in the red zone. Michael Penix Jr.’s return changed the feel of the offense almost immediately.
Green Bay struck first on Jordan Love’s touchdown pass to Christian Watson, but Atlanta answered with a Bijan Robinson touchdown run to tie the game late in the first quarter.
The Falcons then scored 17 unanswered points. Nick Folk hit a field goal, Penix found Austin Hooper for a touchdown before halftime and Brian Robinson Jr. added another touchdown run in the third quarter.
Atlanta led 17-7 at halftime and 24-7 after three quarters. The Falcons outgained Green Bay 419-194 early in the fourth, while Bijan Robinson had already rushed for 169 yards and Drake London had 138 receiving yards.
Bayless’ larger question about Atlanta’s coaching change won’t be settled by one Thursday night.
But the Falcons picked an interesting night to start answering it.
Skip Bayless Blasts Falcons’ Kevin Stefanski During Packers Game