The Atlanta Falcons’ loss to the Washington Football Team was all too familiar if you have been paying attention to this team for the past few years. It really felt like I was watching a bad movie and the remote was on the other side of the room and I didn’t feel like getting up to get it so I could change the channel. There were times where the play-calling came into question. The defense couldn’t find a way to get off the field, and there was one particular play that just can’t happen in a professional football game.
Here are three observations from the Falcons’ 34-30 loss on Sunday:
1. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
The Washington Football Team had just scored a touchdown; had a failed two-point conversion, and the Falcons were still up 30-28. It is at the 3:52 mark to go in the game and the Falcons had an opportunity to send WFT home with a loss. On first down, Matt Ryan turned around and handed the ball off to Mike Davis for a loss of 3 yards. On second down, Ryan turned around and handed the ball off to Davis and gained 4 yards. And finally, on third down, Ryan got in shotgun and threw a quick pass to Davis again for a gain of 5 yards. And you guessed it, that wasn't enough yards to get a first down. A couple of things: Ryan had been pretty successful throwing the football, and given the way the Falcons defense was reeling, I think you have to put the football in Ryan’s hands. Secondly, Cordarrelle Patterson had been your biggest playmaker, three touchdowns on the day, and he wasn’t in on the most important drive of the game.
2. Missed opportunities
In games between evenly-matched teams, there are going to be opportunities for teams to make plays that could possibly swing the final result in either team’s favor. The Falcons weren’t able to do that on Sunday. Even though there were quite a few missed opportunities, there are a couple that were very critical to the Falcons winning the game. Taylor Heinicke took a shot downfield, he completed that same pass earlier in the game for a touchdown, but this time Erik Harris played it perfectly and had an opportunity to pick the ball off with a little over five minutes left in the game, which could have been the one to close out the game. Another one, in that same drive, was Dante Fowler not being able to get Taylor Heinicke on the ground which ended up resulting in a touchdown. I need a separate section for that one.
3. That ish just can’t happen
Terry McLaurin has really turned himself into a pretty good football player coming out of Ohio State in 2019. On this particular play in the fourth quarter, McLaurin showed that he wanted the ball a little more than T.J. Green did. Heinicke was able to escape the grasp of Dante Fowler, and launched what looked like a punt, to McLaurin for touchdown. Green set himself up for failure because when McLaurin was struggling for position, he made the decision to go behind him and allow him to make a play on the ball. At no point did he try to turn around and find the football, and as a defensive back, Green will have to find his comfort zone in that.