It took six weeks, but Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Zachariah Branch finally had his welcome to the NFL, rookie moment in Sunday's loss to the Chicago Bears. Branch got two for the price of one, too.
Late in the second quarter Branch muffed a punt return, resulting in a turnover and a touchdown for the Bears. In the third quarter, he did it again on a kickoff return, leading to three more points for Chicago.
Coughing up 10 points in an eight-point loss is pretty brutal, and Branch's big mistakes on special teams have been included in Tyler Sullivan's list of the biggest gaffes around the NFL this week.
"Branch fumbled twice in Atlanta's 31-23 loss to Chicago. With less than two minutes left in the first half, Branch muffed a punt, which gave the Bears
possession at the Falcons' 10-yard line. It only took them three plays to reach the end zone after that turnover to build up a 21-7 lead at the break... To make things worse, Branch had another special teams fumble on a kickoff in the closing minutes of the third quarter. The Bears took advantage of that turnover with an eventual field goal..."
While it's ugly Branch is still Atlanta's best return specialist - he just needs to learn to be more careful and not be afraid to call for a fair catch every now and then.
However, if Branch has another game like that then the Falcons have to consider their other options. That includes running back Brian Robinson Jr., who's averaging a team-high 27.6 yards on kickoff returns and Olamide Zaccheaus, but he's only averaging one yard per punt return.
Branch did bounce back with a few nice catches in the second half, including a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. We'll see if he learns from his mistakes next week against an undefeated San Francisco 49ers team.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Fumbles by Falcons rookie among biggest Week 6 gaffes
