Five things we learned from Falcons loss to Vikings

If they can beat the Commanders on the road and the Panthers at home, the Falcons can hope that the now-first place Buccaneers will stumble, perhaps against the Chargers.

Here are the five things we learned from the loss to the Vikings:

1. Secondary got torched: Minnesota wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison put on a historic showing against the Falcons’ cornerbacks.

Both had over 130 yards receiving and two or more touchdowns. Jefferson had seven receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets. Addison had eight catches for 133 yards and three touchdowns.

It was just the seventh time that two teammates posted at least 130 yards and two touchdowns each and fifth time during the Super Bowl era.

Now, the Falcons have allowed three of those instances: 1991 against Washington’s Gary Clark and Art Monk and 2021 against Tampa Bay’s Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin and Sunday.

The Falcons, who had the 22nd ranked pass defense (221.7 yards per game), made journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold look like a Joe Montana. Darnold passed for career highs in yards (347), touchdowns (five) and passer rating (157.9, just shy of the NFL-maximum of 158.3).

On a 52-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson to make it 21-13, Darnold escaped a safety blitz from Justin Simmons. He used his mobility to find some room and found Jefferson down field wide open.

“The big plays they were able to make with their guys down the field throwing the ball, that we were not able to track some of those plays,” Morris said. “We got in the backfield, scrambling out Darnold made a couple of plays down the field. Those things in football games happen. But you have to look at that when it happens more than once.”

The Falcons had done a decent job of limited explosive pass plays this season.

“Yeah, I think we just have to make some more plays when the ball is in the air,” safety Jessie Bates III said. “There were a couple of times where (Darnold) got out of sacks and threw the ball up. The other one, Mike (Hughes) lost it in the air. I don’t know if (the ball) got tipped or whatever. All that stuff doesn’t matter. There is no excuses to those deep balls. We’ve got to do better.”

2. Where’s Kyle Pitts?: As the Falcons continued to struggle in the red zone, tight end Kyle Pitts was not a factor in the offense again. He caught one pass for 14 yards.

The Falcons were 2 of 5 (40%) in the red zone and now are 4 of 13 (30.7%) during their four-game losing streak.

Morris said because the Vikings play a lot of combination zones in the red zone, the Falcons preferred to run the ball inside the 20-yard line.

Cousins’ second interception came on a pass into the end zone intended for Pitts.

On a couple of Pitts’ six targets, he didn’t appear to put up the same level of fight for the ball that wide receiver Drake London did on a key reception in the game-tying drive to make it 21-21.

Pitts has caught just two passes over the last three games and has not scored a touchdown since he had two against Tampa Bay on Oct. 27.

Wide receiver Darnell Mooney caught six passes for a career-high 142 yards.

3. Special team blunders costly: The Falcons were trying a maneuver to get a player free to block the Vikings’ field goal attempt. Instead, defensive tackle Kentavious Street was called for defensive holding. The Vikings accepted the penalty which came with an automatic first down at the 16-yard line.

Three plays later, Jefferson got open on cornerback Dee Alford and made a nice catch for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 14-10.

“We executed it well,” Street said. “We just got a penalty called. Back to the drawing board on that one.”

Ray-Ray McCloud’s fumble on a kickoff return gave the Vikings a short field, which they took advantage of and opened a 35-21 lead.

4. Playoffs, did you say playoffs?: Morris’ first season is starting to look like Dan Quinn’s first season back in 2015.

The Falcons came out hot and went 5-0. They were 6-3 at the bye week before finishing the season 8-8. Quinn’s team raced out to 6-1 and then dropped six in a row.

The Falcons (6-7) are one game behind the Bucs (7-6) with four to play.

The Falcons close out with games at Las Vegas (2-11) on Dec. 13, home against the New York Giants (2-11) on Dec. 22, at Commanders (8-5) on a date to be determined and home against the Panthers (3-10) on a date to be determined.

The Bucs play at the Chargers (8-4) next Sunday followed by games at Dallas (5-7 before facing the Bengals on Monday), and at home against Panthers (3-10) and Saints (5-8).

Before the Falcons start discussing the playoffs, they have to figure out a winning formula against the Raiders, who could potentially name former Falcon Desmond Ridder as their starting quarterback this week.

5. Penix watch: Cousins didn’t throw a touchdown pass and had two more interceptions.

The calls for rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will get louder this week.

Morris said Cousins is the quarterback, but said they’ll review everything.

Penix said he’s ready to play if there is an emergency. Quarterback coach T.J. Yates concurred with Penix, even though he’s just been running the scout team this season.

Cousins still has support in the locker room.

“Kirk has been in the league for a long time,” running back Bijan Robinson said. “Sometimes he goes through some stretches that aren’t as good as he wants them to be. But I have a lot of confidence in him because he’s a veteran in this league. He’s been around this league for a long time. He understands what he needs to do to become great throughout the season.

“I’m just going to back him up and have his back. All of us on the offense think the same way.”

Left guard Matthew Bergeron said: “He’s a great person. He’s a great leader. He’s a great player. We all believe in him. We’re all behind him. We’re not listening to the outside noise. We’re going to keep backing him.”