The Atlanta Falcons went to Germany with everything to play for and their season basically hanging in the balance, and they found a way to fritter it away instead. A team that has made embarrassment an art form found a new way to get it done in Berlin, and at 3-6, they’re screwed.
The Falcons were bad early but rallied, actually took a four point lead at one point, and then frittered that way thanks to offensive ineptitude. After letting the Colts take the lead, they managed to get it back again,
then allowed the Colts to go downfield and get the field goal to send the game to overtime. At that point things went really awry, and ultimately Atlanta fell apart on offense again, gave the ball back to the Colts, and Jonathan Taylor plowed in for a touchdown to win. Ballgame, another close one lost late thanks to mistakes.
This is who the Falcons are. They have real talent, but the pieces fit together like mashed potatoes, and everything from Michael Penix’s inaccuracy to Zac Robinson’s play calling to the woeful special teams play combined to make this one a loss. There’s the temptation to believe that things clicking into place can be right around the corner, but after nine games and six losses we know that’s not going to happen. All we can hope for is progress, especially from Penix and the young defense, and an offseason that brings sweeping changes anywhere where the Falcons are stagnant and falling down. It’s so, so discouraging to be here again, but we can’t do a thing about it.
Here’s a drive-by-drive recap of the game you just watched.
1st Quarter
The Colts got the ball first and were stopped shy of the 25. Jonathan Taylor was tripped up by Jalon Walker after a couple of yards. Then Daniel Jones hit Alec Pierce for a first down. Under pressure, Jones hit Taylor for a first down and 15 yards, but Taylor was hit so hard he fumbled, only to see the Colts recover it. Tyler Warren then got a first down on a play action pass. Taylor then ran for four yards, and then pushed his way forward a couple of yards short of a first down, with JD Bertrand getting the stop. On third down, a high ball to Mo Alie-Cox wasn’t reeled in after Jessie Bates delivered a jarring hit, and then on fourth down, excellent coverage by Dee Alford and a low ball combined to lead to a fourth down incompletion. Turnover on downs.
Bijan Robinson got to the edge and rumbled for close to 15 yards and a first down. Then Michael Penix Jr. looked for Kyle Pitts downfield and got him, only for Pitts to drop it. Bijan then took it two yards. On third down, a free rusher hit Penix hard and the ball popped loose, with the Colts recovering.
On the next play, Ashton Dulin got the end-around for 22 yards. Then Taylor plunged into the end zone for a touchdown, but the Colts missed the extra point. 6-0 Colts.
Natrone Brooks made the ill-advised decision to field it near the 1 and only got it back out to about the 20. Then Penix rolled out and found Drake London downfield for 30 yards. He then hit London again for a quick pickup of 13 yards. Bijan then picked up about five yards, and a Darnell Mooney DPI draw got the Falcons close to the end zone. A bulldozer Tyler Allgeier run got the Falcons close, and then Allgeier plunged in for his fifth score of the year. 7-6 Falcons.
Taylor rolled for close to 30 yards on first down, and then Jones hit Pierce in the end zone for a touchdown. 13-7 Colts.
Jamal Agnew was taken down around the 27. No gain on first down, but Penix hit Mooney on the sideline for 12 yards and a first down. Robinson then took it for a first down. Bijan then got about five yards. On second down, Penix tried Mooney on a ball that was a little high but bounced it off his hands. On third down, a screen play was sniffed out for a loss, and the Falcons had to punt. An excellent effort by Bradley Pinion had the Colts starting from the 2.
Tyler Warren picked up seven on first down. Jones then escaped pressure to a first down. Jones then skipped one in the dirt to Warren. Jones then ripped off another scramble for a first down. Then Josh Downs got about six yards, but an illegal man downfield backed the Colts up.
2nd Quarter
Jones then found Pierce over the middle for a big gain over the middle. On the next play, Jones was being blitzed but got it to Warren, who broke multiple feeble tackle attempts from Bertrand. Taylor then got the first down. On the next play, Zach Harrison sacked Daniel Jones, and he fumbled it out of bounds. A quick pass picked up two yards. Taylor was tackled by Ronnie Harrison after about five yards. The Colts then missed a long field goal try, Mike Badgley’s second miss of the day.
Bijan got about a yard on first down. Penix rolled out looking for someone and had to throw it away. On third down, the Falcons had to take a timeout because they couldn’t get the play in…again. A Penix scramble went nowhere and he was sacked. Punt, and there was a nice return until Feleipe Franks tripped him up; a holding call backed the Colts way up.
Taylor got about five yards. A high snap to toss to Taylor picked up four more yards. The Colts then got hit with a false start, and the third down pass fell incomplete with Keith Taylor and James Pearce Jr. in coverage. Punt.
Bijan picked up about six yards. Then Charlie Woerner made a nice grab, stayed on his feet, and got 15 yards. Allgeier took it about three yards. Then Drake London got a big pickup after Sauce Gardner slipped, and then Bijan picked up a few yards before London caught (inevitably) another touchdown. 14-13 Falcons.
Another quality return, but another holding call backed it up. Michael Pittman then made the nine yard sideline grab working against Keith Taylor. Jonathan Taylor then picked up a couple yards and a first down. A quick pass to Taylor was taken down by Josh Woods. Jones then hit Pierce for about 12 yards and a first down. Jones scrambled up the middle for nine yards. Kaden Elliss then came in on the blitz to sack Jones for a big loss. On third down, Jones threw an interception to Jessie Bates, who drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the play. Because Raheem Morris did not call a timeout after the sack, the Falcons only had eight seconds left; perhaps he didn’t want to give them more time to work.
The Falcons kneeled it out.
3rd Quarter
Jamal Agnew got it to the 30. Tyler Allgeier stood up and went for about four yards, with Grover Stewart injured on the field trying to make the tackle. Then Michael Penix Jr. got Kyle Pitts open on the sideline again on a rollout, this time for a completion and 25 yards. Then Bijan hit a nasty stutter step to leave a Colts defender behind and pick up a first down. Allgeier followed that up with five yards. Penix was under pressure and threw one in the direction of Pitts, but it fell to the turf. Penix then tried Pitts in the end zone again, but the ball was a little short and hit the defender. Zane Gonzalez hit the field goal to make it 17-13 Falcons.
Dulin took it past midfield on the return. A play action pass to Taylor picked up close to 20 yards. Jalon Walker’s relentless pursuit made Jones nervous, he reached up and fumbled he fumbled and fell on it, and Walker touched him to finish off the play. A quick pass to Jones went for a few. On third down, the Falcons brought the house and James Pearce Jr. nailed Jones, forced a fumble, and Walker fell on it. Falcons ball.
Bijan got about four yards on first down. Penix was looking for Mooney and couldn’t get him on second down. On third down, he locked in on Drake London all the way and nearly threw a pick to Sauce Gardner. Punt.
Taylor took it from the 13 and picked up four yards. Taylor picked up the first but could have had more if not for Billy Bowman Jr.’s tackle. Taylor got three yards again. A quick pass to Pittman was down just short of a first down, and a too many men on the field penalty on Atlanta gave them more help. On 2nd and 12, Taylor got a first. Taylor got a couple of yards. A quick screen to Warren went for close to 25 yards. Tyler Goodson then got three yards. Two straight run stops brought up fourth down, but Taylor got the first up the gut on a pistol call. A wildcat call with a Warren handing it off to Taylor went for a couple of yards. Jones ran twice and set up a fourth and short, with Xavier Watts making a nice third down tackle, and then Bertrand got the massive fourth down run stop.
Bijan then took it a little more than five yards on first down. London scooped up a low laser from Penix to help him avoid a hit for a first down.
4th Quarter
Penix then threw it incomplete to London under pressure. On second down, Penix threw one low to Mooney, and then they couldn’t convert on third down as Penix threw it away under pressure. Punt, and another good return by Josh Downs got the Colts past midfield. Taylor then picked up three yards. Taylor was then patient while his blocking developed and got outside, rolling for 15 yards. Taylor then picked up nearly nine yards, but the Falcons stood him up after a yard on second down. A dive from Jones went for a first down. On first down, Josh Woods blew in with ferocity in combination with Brandon Dorlus to blow up the run for the loss of a yard. A delay of game on second down backed the Colts up. On 2nd and 16, Jones got Warren over the middle for several yards. Then Brandon Dorlus got the third down sack to kill the Colts drive. Badgley did hit the field goal try to make it 17-16 Falcons.
Agnew slipped at the 22 or so. Bijan then took it seven yards on first down. Bijan then got a first down, and then picked up a few yards. On second down, Penix couldn’t connect on a deep ball, but then he missed an open David Sills on third down over the middle. Punt, and the Colts caught it inside the 10.
A quick pass to Tyler Warren was followed up by an 83 yard Taylor run for a touchdown to give the Colts the lead. The two point try was batted down. 22-17 Colts.
Agnew got it back to the 29 yard line. Penix hit London for 16 yards and a first down. Penix then ran away from defenders and hit Pitts for eight yards. Bijan then took it for a first down. Allgeier then took it seven yards, and then rolled for a first down. On the next play, Penix delivered one to Pitts over the middle for a first down to get them into the red zone. Then Allgeier rumbled inside the 10 yard line for a first down. Allgeier then got down to the one yard line, and then punched it on the next play. Drake London then grabbed the two point conversion to make it Falcons 25-22.
Ameer Abdullah took it to midfield before Natrone Brooks tackled him. On the first play, Warren had the ball knocked out by Kaden Elliss, but it was ruled an incompletion after a review. On the next play, Arnold Ebiketie and Kaden Elliss combined for a sack. On third down, Jones scrambled for 19 yards, and then the Colts converted on fourth down. On the next play, Jones missed down the sideline while bleeding from the mouth. Ronnie Harrison got Jones on a bad snap for a sack and a loss of six yards. A quick throw to Pittman got them closer. The Falcons called a timeout, and the Colts were able to convert the field goal try to make it 25-25.
The Falcons got tackled around the 20, Mooney dropped an easy one from Penix, and then Penix was called for grounding again. That ended regulation.
Overtime
The Colts received it first, but it turned out to be a coin toss error, giving it back to the Falcons instead. Jamal Agnew took it to about the 28 yard line. Bijan took it about three yards. Penix then missed Mooney on second down. On third down, the Colts got called for an extremely defensive illegal contact, once again working against Mooney to give the Falcons a first down. Allgeier then got brought down after trying to dance and find a lane. Then Penix missed the sideline throw and was sacked on third down, with Bradley Pinion shanking a 39 yard punt.
Taylor on first down got a couple of yards. On second down, Jones found Tyler Warren deep downfield for a big gain. Taylor then survived a missed would-be tackle for a loss by Bowman, who missed completely, and picked up six yards. He picked up a couple of yards on second down. Taylor then ran for another first down, and then punched it for a touchdown to put us out of our misery. Falcons
