The Atlanta Falcons should’ve won that game and made a gorgeous autumn day in New England that much more enjoyable. I know that, you know that, the Patriots know that. They have to be letting out of a sigh of relief in Massachusetts today, given how close the margin was, while the Falcons pick up the pieces of yet another loss.
Compared to their ass-kickings at the hands of both the 49ers and Dolphins, this was very recognizably decent football. The Falcons stunk in the first half on offense outside of a single drive and a couple of plays from the Patriots 6 yard line, but the defense started clamping down late in the first half and never let up. The Patriots scored 21 in the first half and just three points in the second half; the Falcons controlled that portion of the afternoon almost entirely. Michael Penix Jr. threw three touchdown passes to Drake London, the Falcons picked up six sacks and forced two turnovers, and the team was in a position to tie it up, get the stop, and cap off a game-winning field goal drive late in this one. Instead, Parker Romo missed the extra point, the Falcons got a shot but Michael Penix Jr. got surprised by a snap and picked up yet another intentional grounding penalty, and the Falcons punted on 4th and 20 and couldn’t get the desperation stop out of timeouts. Game.
What’s incredibly aggravating about this one is that the Falcons put together a much better effort than their previous two games despite the quality of opponent, and it wasn’t enough to add up to a win because of the same kinds of errors that have repeatedly doomed them. Romo has not been good enough to keep the kicker spot, something that was obvious weeks ago but has not been addressed, whether because of a lack of options (in Atlanta’s opinion) or a belief that Romo will steady himself. Penix and the offense have not been able to stop making the kinds of mistakes experience should iron out, whether that’s an intentional grounding, brutally bad blocks and penalties, or an actual or near delay of game. The Falcons defense is the better piece of this team, but they are failing to deliver the pressure they’re very capable of generating on critical third downs when they really need it, and they keep winding up with bad coverage mismatches when they need them least. This was a pretty good football game against a very tough opponent in spite of all that, which makes a loss we all thought was coming much harder to digest.
The progress matters in a big picture sense, though. Penix getting more comfortable and confident for long stretches matters. Drake London reeling in three touchdowns and dominating on a day the Falcons were once again pretty one-dimensional matters, especially when the team’s receiving options outside of him, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts are doing nothing of note. The pass rush making one of the hottest quarterbacks in football look pedestrian for long stretches matters, especially because it came from young pass rushers stepping up. It paints a picture of a team with talent still figuring things out, which should eventually translate to wins. The Falcons are not a team bereft of talent and needing a hard reset; they are a team that needs more work but ultimately should be set if they either figure out how to stop making avoidable mistakes rapidly or get new leadership to push that talent to new heights.
But they also aren’t good enough to win right now, for reasons that range from dumb errors and lackluster options to coaching miscues, and that’s why they’re currently 3-5 heading into what feels like a do-or-die game against the Colts. Given that, we’re left in a familiar position, daydreaming about future potential while the current reality of the team disappoints us, and with major changes potentially looming if the losing continues. I’d love to tell you that the Falcons are on the cusp of turning the corner after that encouraging effort, but given their inconsistency and history over the past decade, all we can really say is that it was a better game that still saw Atlanta fall short. Falling short is, ultimately, the only thing the Falcons have consistently excelled at for most of my life, come to think of it.
Give it to London, who made a number of truly impressive grabs while bullying New England’s secondary all day long. Three touchdowns and well over 100 yards is a tremendous day; give Penix and the pass rush their honorary mentions too.
This was a team down bad rallying to put together a tremendous effort against a very hot football team; the fact that it still wasn’t enough because of big mistakes tells you this team’s ceiling continues to be capped by inconsistency and errors.
The Falcons are headed to Germany to play the formerly red-hot Colts, who just were embarrassed by Pittsburgh. Wunderbar?