The Atlanta Falcons lost a devastating overtime game to the Washington Commanders on Sunday Night Football. The loss puts them in a difficult spot as the race for the NFC South nears a climactic end.
Clock mismanagement led to a failed 56-yard field goal and the eventual overtime loss. Head coach Raheem Morris has shouldered a large portion of the blame after the way he handled the late-game decisions.
The Morning Shift discussed Morris' decision to hold onto his timeouts on that fateful final drive.
"That right there is in-game, situational football," Drew Butler said Monday morning. "There were 33 seconds left on the game clock [and] you had two timeouts when Darnell Mooney caught that ball on the minus-45 yard line. You've got to take a timeout there and reset your offense."
Instead of taking the timeout, Michael Penix and the offense were left scrambling trying to get set and call a play. When the dust settled, 17 seconds had run off the clock and the Falcons were forced to settle for a 56-yard field goal try (that was missed).
This wasn't an isolated incident on Sunday, as the Falcons also had this situation happen at the end of the first half. They were lined up with a first down inside the Washington 40-yard line with under a minute to play. Morris opted not to use any of his three timeouts and the Falcons only managed three plays, leading to a field goal.
The situational football test is one that the repeatedly failed last night. It likely cost them the game and likely a chance to make the playoffs this season.
"[The NFL] always comes down to the last few minutes," Butler continued. "You can look at any game and say, 'Hey, these five plays determined the outcome of the football game'... in situational football, when you use your timeouts and [running] the two-minute drill, four-minute drill before the half. [You must] know how to win with situational football."