The Falcons forced a Patriots punt while trailing 24-23 with 3:30 left in Sunday’s game, but an intentional grounding penalty on quarterback Michael Penix helped keep them from driving for a go-ahead score.
The penalty came on a second-and-10 near midfield when Penix received a snap earlier than he expected and immediately threw the ball to the ground short of the line of scrimmage. After the game, Penix said he was trying to throw it near tight end Kyle Pitts and that center Ryan Neuzil told him that the Patriots simulated the snap count ahead of the early snap.
“Yeah, supposedly. Supposedly they were clapping,” Penix said, via a transcript from the Patriots. “For us, whenever I’m clapping, that means I want the ball. I knew \[Neuzil\] said he heard them clapping, and he thought it was my clap, and he snapped the ball. I threw the ball in KP’s direction. He had just released on a route. I thought I was going to be okay with the grounding part. Obviously that wasn’t the case.”
Head coach Raheem Morris had the same view of what happened on the play.
“They did a nice job. They simulated a snap,” Morris said. “The ball came early, was snapped early. Within that snap, that was when we got the intentional grounding. Nice job by those guys. Great situational football. Great play. Got to snap the ball. That’s why the ball was snapped early on Mike. He wasn’t ready for the snap.”
Defenses found to be simulating snap counts are subject to a 15-yard penalty for sending “disconcerting signals,” but they can be difficult to discern inside a noisy stadium. If that’s what happened on Sunday, it was a bad break for the Falcons.