The Falcons are now 3-4 in one-score games this season.
The Falcons have to put the 20-17 loss to the Chargers behind them and get ready to face the Panthers (2-7) at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
The Falcons dropped to 4-5. The Saints (3-5) play Monday night.
“It definitely helps that we are playing a division opponent, as far as preparation,” Falcons wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus said. “I don’t know, but I don’t think they are going to change too much. We have an idea of how they play and stuff like that. We have to turn around pretty quick.”
The Falcons defeated the Panthers 37-34 in overtime Oct. 30.
They had several missed opportunities against the Chargers but plan to move forward.
“Just treating each play like its own thing,” Zaccheaus said. “Just resetting each play. Not putting too much pressure on the situations. Just everybody doing their job and executing. I think that’s just what it comes down to.”
The Falcons received a boost from the return of running back Cordarrelle Patterson. He rushed 13 times for 44 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a pass for 9 yards.
On his 3-yard touchdown run, he powered over Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill.
“He just brings juice,” Zaccheaus said of Patterson. “That whole running back room brings it. CP, being a veteran player, brings energy. Brings juice. All of the running backs run hard. Just having him back gives us an extra boost in the run game.”
The Falcons rushed 35 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Rookie running back Tyler Allgeier rushed 10 times for 99 yards, which included a 44-yard run in the first quarter.
Caleb Huntley had seven rushes for 34 yards, and quarterback Marcus Mariota had five carries for 24 yards.
The Falcons’ passing attack misfired most of the day. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts had at least two drops, and Mariota and Pitts’ timing on the deep balls was off.
Two of the shots were overthrown. One was thrown early before Pitts cleared his defender.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Pitts caught 2 of 7 targets for 27 yards, which was tops in receiving yards for the Falcons.
“No,” Pitts said when asked about the timing being off. “We just didn’t execute. We’ll get back to work this week.”
He was another player pointing to the Panthers.
“I mean, obviously it (feels bad) we didn’t come out and get the win, but we have another opportunity this Thursday coming up,” Pitts said.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith had a few thoughts for the team.
“Keep fighting,” Pitts said is what Smith told the team. “It’s a long year. We got another game this Thursday. We want to win this game and the division.”
The key to the rest of the season will be if the Falcons can muster an even slightly better passing attack.
Mariota was 12-of-23 passing for 129 yards without a touchdown or an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 68.9.
“I just have to see what happened and what adjustments that we can make,” said Zaccheaus about the passing attack.
Zaccheaus caught his two targets for 19 yards.
Allgeier had his first 100-yard all-purpose game in the NFL, but he was despondent about the loss.
“There are a lot of things that it comes down to,” Allgeier said. “We all fought. We fought to the end. Just came up short.”
Allegier just missed having 100 yards rushing. “Everything happens for a reason,” Allgeier said. “I might have had over 100 all-purpose yards, but I was just doing my job. We have to put that aside and learn from our mistakes and get ready for the quick turnaround.”
The Falcons were talking about their resiliency after the win over the Panthers. The trait of the team will be tested after this tough loss.
“It was just one of those ones where you go, ‘Shoot, we kind of beat ourselves’ and stuff,” Allgeier said. “But we’re grateful that we can come back to it. Come back to it and learn from our mistakes. We really have to just get ready (for the Panthers).”
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The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT
Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
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