The Atlanta Falcons stumbled once again Sunday losing to their NFC South rival Buccaneers 29-25. The loss not only took them out of first place, it also brought up several questions about the team that have plagued them all season long. The defense crumbled when it mattered most on the final drive after staving off the Bucs offense for most of the contest. The quarterback continued to turn the ball over, despite throwing for over 300 yards and leading a critical drive that could have ended the contest with just over three minutes remaining. Most importantly, however, the lack of the “clutch gene” continues to haunt this franchise.
The Falcons appear to almost always be on the losing end of game-winning drives. They let the lowly Cardinals and Vikings, who were on their third-string quarterback, storm down the field and win the game. There is no metric for clutch, it starts with building a winning culture and a winning attitude in the locker room and training facility. Even though Coach Arthur Smith appears to say all the right things and always has an explanation for why things went wrong, the fix has not been made yet to turn those losses into wins.
With just four games remaining in the regular season the team needs to find its winning identity quickly. All four contests are winnable but after the way this team has lost games this season there is no such thing as an automatic win. It all starts with the 1-12 Panthers Sunday.
