A lot of things went wrong for the Falcons in their 20-6 loss to the Lions Sunday. The offensive line didn’t pass-protect well, Desmond Ridder had some accuracy issues, and Atlanta could never get its running game going.
However, there was some good news despite the loss. The Falcons came out of the game relatively healthy, Jeff Okudah played for the first time this season, and if Tampa Bay loses Monday to Philadelphia then the entire NFC South will have lost and the Falcons would lose zero ground in the division.
The other good news is that you have veterans on this team such as Jessie Bates, Calais Campbell, and Jake Matthews on this team who are determined to make sure one loss doesn’t turn into two.
“One loss can’t turn into two," Campbell said. "You know we gotta make it one loss. You know we’ll grade the tape, we’ll figure it out, and then we’ll go back to playing football next week you know it’s another tough opponent that came off a big loss too, it’s gonna be in a unique environment in London, so you know we get the 24-hour rule that’s it that’s the main reason.”
After the game, Bates explained to Dave Archer why there’s no reason to overreact to this loss.
“You know we’re 2-1, we’re still figuring out who we are as a team and you know nobody needs to overreact to this loss you know it’s just one loss," Bates said. "But we will learn from it, just like a win you know you got 24 hours to revisit and you know have all the emotions that you want to have for 24 hours and then after that you get back to work, going to London, you know hopefully we can get a dub there.”
Beau Morgan explained why having veteran players like Bates and Campbell is so important for the Falcons.
“That’s what I expect, that’s why you sign guys like Jessie Bates, Calais Campbell they’re gonna help with a young team keep it moving," Morgan said. "Jake Matthews is another guy that should help with that especially with the offensive line and they need leadership right now.”
These veterans will be preaching this message to the entire team all week, and it will help accomplish exactly what Campbell talked about, one loss not turning into two, and getting a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday.