The Falcons found a new way to lose, surrendering two touchdowns in the final four minutes of a 34-30 defeat to the Washington Football Team on Sunday. Here are the highlights:
Play of the game: Washington closed an eight-point deficit with a touchdown and failed two-point conversion with 4:02 remaining. After the Falcons went three-and-out, Washington had the ball back with 1:24 remaining. Facing a third-and-7 at the 30-yard line, Taylor Heinicke scrambled to his left and, facing incoming pressure, threw back across the field to checkdown J.D. McKissic. The back caught the ball, turned up field, covered the full 30 yards and went airborne for the decisive score.
Shoula/coulda/woulda play of the game: Facing a fourth-and-two at the Washington 42-yard line and without a punter, the Falcons took a gamble late in the third quarter. Matt Ryan threw an interception. No wait, he was down by contact. No wait again, Washington’s Chase Young was called for roughing the passer. After a scramble and pressure from Young, Ryan heaved up a pass that was intercepted. A closer look showed Ryan’s knee was down before the pass. However, as Ryan evaded contact, Young made contact with his helmet. First down at the 27-yard line. Four plays later, the Falcons scored to go up 30-22.
Credit: Curtis Compton / curtis.compton@ajc.com
Credit: Curtis Compton / curtis.compton@ajc.com
Offensive game ball: Cordarrelle Patterson. The Falcons hybrid running back/tight end caught three touchdowns from Ryan for 42, 12 and 14 yards. He had five catches for 82 yards and six carries for 34 yards.
Defensive game ball: Foye Oluokon. The Falcons linebacker had six tackles, six assists and one sack. He nearly had the defensive play of the game when he jarred the ball loose from Washington’s Terry McLaurin on the game-winning drive. The ball was recovered by the Falcons. However, an official review called the play an incomplete pass.
Key stat: Zero turnovers. The Falcons had several prime opportunities for interceptions but couldn’t come up short of stealing a possession. They have no interceptions on the season and overall are a minus-2 in turnover margin through four games. Not what head coach Arthur Smith had in mind.
Biggest takeaway: The Falcons had failings on offense and defense. That has been the case for the last several seasons. And they’ve added to the ever-growing list of ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
They said it: “Tomorrow, you go through the film, things we have to work on. We’ve got to get a lot of things fixed in a hurry.” – Falcons head coach Arthur Smith
Next up: The Falcons go far on the road to play a home game as they travel to London to take on the Jets. The game will be played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and will kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET.
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