I’M TRYING HERE — OK. I have to be honest with you. I didn’t want to write this week’s notebook. There was no part of the Falcons’ loss to the Vikings that I wanted to touch with a 10-foot pole. Call me the Grinch, but that’s how I felt.

I’m just… tired, and I guess I expected too much. Whatever the case may be, I sit here on Monday afternoon struggling to string words together just as the Falcons have struggled to string wins together.

It just feels as though every time one aspect of the Falcons’ game improves or plays well (the pass rush or run game Sunday afternoon, for example), another part of the game breaks down (the secondary’s performance, turnover margin and penalties). It’s a toss up weekly. And I’m having a difficult time finding consistency in any one aspect of the Falcons’ game or identity.

Back when this team held a 6-3 record and was 4-0 in the division, I thought their identity was that they just found ways to win. It wasn’t pretty at times, but they did enough when crunch time arrived to make the plays count. After dropping each of their last four games, I don’t feel that way any longer.

This feeling left me searching for anything even remotely related to consistency with this team. I started to write about Bijan Robinson. I started to write about Darnell Mooney and Drake London. All three continue to show up for Atlanta, but we’ve talked about them ad nauseam, right?

So, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write about someone who wasn’t making headlines nationally the way Robinson, London or even Mooney has. Thinking back to the game Sunday — and after a conversation with Will McFadden — I eventually landed on writing about A.J. Terrell, who despite the secondary’s showing against the Vikings, was playing at a clip we should be talking about.

But even then, after watching every single Vikings pass play on the all-22 tape, I couldn’t (in good conscience) praise one player when the secondary, as a whole, gave up 347 yards on 22 completions and five touchdowns to Sam Darnold. Sure, Terrell was lined up against Justin Jefferson on 18 of his 32 routes (56.3%). And yes, he only gave up one reception for 7 yards as the nearest defender in coverage. But to ignore the crux of the game being that the secondary allowed Darnold to record a career-high 163 passing yards on passes beyond 20 air yards, well, that just felt wrong.

What everyone will remember from the game is the coverage on the 49-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison in the first quarter or the breakdown on the 52-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson in the third. It won’t be that Terrell had a solid outing against him. Is that fair? Up for debate.

I write all of this to ultimately say I am at a loss for what to write about.

The irony, right? A writer without words to pen.

But I guess that’s kind of the point I am trying to make about this team at this juncture in the season. I’ve written so many words about it. I have praised this roster. I’ve spurred hope for it. I’ve been critical of it when I needed to be. But right now? I don’t have much to say, because until they piece this thing together, there really isn’t much to harp on without feeling as though I am twisting the knife when I am critical or carrying water if I am overly positive.

I could write all day long about the impact of Robinson, the emergence of Mooney, the solid nature of London or the shutdown outings of Terrell, or I could go the other way. I could write about the red-zone problems, the one-too-many turnovers or the drive-shifting penalties. But honestly? What matters to you — Dear Reader — are the wins. And right now? I can’t write about the wins because the Falcons have fallen below .500. Nothing I write here matters except that.