Falcons hosed on the road

[jhay610]

In case you missed it, the Falcons just got robbed of a chance to win the game in Philly today. Trailing 20-14, the Falcons got a stop with 2:22 left and Coach Smith burned his last timeout. Philly punted the ball and the Falcons returner got caught kind of in no-man's-land where he pulled back from a catch at the last moment. The ball bounced very close to him but replays showed it clearly did not touch him. The umpiring crew incorrectly ruled that he muffed the punt and gave philly the ball. Replay evidence was definitive that the ruling on the field was incorrect.

The problem: there was 2:22 left in the game, meaning that the booth would not automatically review the play (they don't do that until under the 2 min mark). Smith had used all of the team's timeouts on defense trying to keep Philly from killing the clock. By rule, you can't throw the challenge flag unless you have at least one timeout. So the call stands and Matt Ryan doesn't get the chance to add to his impressive rookie campaign. Momentum was definitely on the side of the Falcons, as they had just come down the field and scored a touchdown on the previous possession.

Westbrook broke off a huge run for a touchdown 2 plays later for your final score.

Should Mike Smith be held at least partly responsible for burning his last timeout with 2:22 to play? Should he have had the foresight to allow the clock to run down to 2 min and keep his TO just in case a fluke play like that happened?

I have always been in the camp that you use your timeouts on defense when you'r trailing because you can control the clock on offense with clock kills and working the sidelines. It's much better to keep the 40 secs on the gameclock than to save a timeout, in my opinion. But I guess that position must be challenged now in the NFL - if you have Exactly one timeout and there is >2:00 on the game clock, you have to at least consider holding the TO in case an ump blows a call and you need to challenge.

Really sucks cuz it was shaping up to be a great finish to a game the Falcons looked to have been out of.

Edited October 26, 2008 by jhay610

[jhay610]

Also hated the fade route the falcons threw late in the 3rd qtr on 2nd and goal from the 1 1/2. Just line up and stick it the gut of big Michael Turner. Down that close there is no need to get cute.

Of course Ryan made his worst throw of the day, possibly of the season, and horribly underthrew a lollipop that was picked off. Ouch. A TD there cuts the lead to 3 and changes the flow of that game.

[Eddielives]

Also hated the fade route the falcons threw late in the 3rd qtr on 2nd and goal from the 1 1/2. Just line up and stick it the gut of big Michael Turner. Down that close there is no need to get cute.

Of course Ryan made his worst throw of the day, possibly of the season, and horribly underthrew a lollipop that was picked off. Ouch. A TD there cuts the lead to 3 and changes the flow of that game.

Yeah it sucks that the punt play could not be reviewed. At least a field goal on that earlier interception in the end zone along with that punt call overturned and the Falcons have a really good shot at stealing another win. I'm kinda pissed but realize this wasn't a loss to hang your head over. All things considered, we are still playing pretty good football.

[jhay610]

I think the NFL should look at the replay system and change it to something similar to what the NCAA has. The point of the system is to get the call right; not being able to do that because there was 2:22 on the clock instead of 2:00 seems pretty silly. Also can't be right if a coach has to take a less-than-optimal strategy (saving a timeout) to protect himself against the potential of a blown call from the refs (so I am absolving Coach Smith of any blame in response to my own question earlier - it's not his job to anticipate horrible calls within a 22 second window, regardless of what Brian Billick thinks).

With the current rules in place the crew should have ruled in the Falcons favor on the field, let the Eagles challenge, and then get it right. I thought they made the call way too quickly considering that the game was on the line - if they had huddled up they certainly could have recognized the Falcons TO situation and that their own necks would be on the line by effectively ending the game if they gave the ball to the Eagles.

As it stands it is just another black mark against NFL officiating and it irks me as a fan of the NFL, not just as a Falcons fan, that I didnt get to see Ryan with a crack at stealing one on the road in front of his hometown fans.

Edited October 26, 2008 by jhay610

[EazyRoc]

Let's not forget Finneran's drop for a TD. He needs to be on the far end of the rotation from here on out. Obviously, the refs should have intervened. It was clearly a very bad call and they had the opportunity to fix their error and didn't. This game showed me that Anderson might be a little bit underrated. We were getting killed on his side of the line on the run, something at which he defends against well. Milloy blew an easy pick and gave up 15 yards on a very ugly late hit. I wholeheartedly agree that we should have given the ball to Turner near the goal line and just smash it in. I don't understand the toss up against a very good cornerback.

[jhay610]

Let's not forget Finneran's drop for a TD. He needs to be on the far end of the rotation from here on out.

That was a beautiful throw by Ryan and def should have been a TD, but they did end up punching it in on that drive anyway, so ultimately it didn't cost the falcons anything but a couple minutes of game clock. Def another costly drop from Finn though and I agree that he has not shown the sure hands we remember from the Vick days.

This game showed me that Anderson might be a little bit underrated. We were getting killed on his side of the line on the run, something at which he defends against well.

I noticed this also. Also note that Keith Brooking is really slipping. He is really a mismatch in coverage and does not close on the ball like he used to. Still a decent tackler when he gets there but we need to be looking at replacing him very soon. Sad to say that cuz he is a good guy and has given us some good years but that's business.

[DrReality]

It was a hard one to lose, but don't forget we stole one the last win.

the interception in the end zone was a rookie mistake. But if we had scored there we would have been ahead by one and would not have used our last time out and thus could have challenged that play.

[Admin]

I didn't see the game but watching the replay in slow motion it was obviously a bad call, but in real time it appeared that it would have been extremely difficult to call. I'm just not sure why he pulled away from the ball though, if he makes the catch then there couldn't have been an issue.

[High5]

It was a hard one to lose, but don't forget we stole one the last win.

the interception in the end zone was a rookie mistake. But if we had scored there we would have been ahead by one and would not have used our last time out and thus could have challenged that play.

If Chicago won they would have stolen the win, we just took back what was ours.

Not much to say about today. The team played poorly for most of the game. Sucks we were in the situation we were in with that punt. Just another example of Jennings being worthless. Don't charge the ball if you aren't going to catch it. He was extremely fortunate the ball didn't actually hit him.

[hawkman]

Chances were pretty low that we were going to win that one anyway. Smith just has to do a better job of managing timeouts.

[DrReality]

Ryan looked like a rookie more today, which is expected.

I thought the defense did a poor job, let Westbrook run for a ton of yards. Could have won, should have. But given the season it is a learning process on the road.

[hawkman]

Ryan looked like a rookie more today, which is expected.

I thought the defense did a poor job, let Westbrook run for a ton of yards. Could have won, should have. But given the season it is a learning process on the road.

I'm not so sure we should have won. Early on, I thought we would, but then the Eagles kicked it into another gear and just looked like the better team out there. But I have to say that comparing this season to the last, it's night and day. Smith should be heavily considered for COY. I'm impressed with Ryan as well, but am still concerned with some of his INTs though.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

Yup. Hated the call on that fade INT attempt also... I mean, it's 2nd and goal on the 1 yard line. You got 2 more chances to run up and get an easy TD. I don't get it...

And what's with the punter? That guy will make a mediocre play and then got up pumping his chest like an idiot.

Edited October 27, 2008 by DeerPark

[crimedog]

I thought Ryan played well considering - it was the first game we had where he was really gettting knocked around but he was being asked to throw it anyway. He does throw off his back foot too often and doesn't have the arm strength to do so accurately but otherwise he wasn't bad at all considering the pass rush coming at him.

Agree with everyone about that goal line play. If we were still messing around with Dunn, go for the fade, but Mike Turner is gonna get a yard and a half on 3 tries sure as the sun is gonna come up tomorrow.

Losses happen and you can't blame this one on the refs because the Eagles did outplay us and we did make bad decisions and plays along the way and we couldn't stop Westbrook. That being said, it was a really crappy ending.

[Admin]

Could you have imagined before the season that you'd take be able to go into Philly and have a shot at beating a pretty good team while starting a rookie QB? That loss has to sting but I'd say that it proves that you guys are a playoff caliber team.

[AHF]

Agree with everyone about that goal line play. If we were still messing around with Dunn, go for the fade, but Mike Turner is gonna get a yard and a half on 3 tries sure as the sun is gonna come up tomorrow.

From that distance, I don't see how you don't line up and run the ball 3 or 4 times in a row. The odds of a damaging interception are so much higher than a fumble and that goes for experienced QBs as well as rookie QBs. I couldn't watch this game in Indiana but I had the internet up and saw we were 1st and goal at the 2 and sat waiting for the TD or 2nd and 1 to flash up. When Philly 1st at the 20 showed up I was sure we had fumbled and then saw the INT. That is not play calling I would expect under a team as dedicated to establishing the run as the Falcons. It isn't even like we have great receivers for a jump ball/fade type of route. Hopefully the staff will pound the ball next time.

[jhay610]

Losses happen and you can't blame this one on the refs because the Eagles did outplay us and we did make bad decisions and plays along the way and we couldn't stop Westbrook. That being said, it was a really crappy ending.

No doubt we were outplayed all day and deserved to lose, but the Bears were outplayed all day and still had a one point lead with :11 to go two weeks ago against the Falcons. It happens all the time in the NFL. To sneak out of there with a win would have been an absolute steal but it was right there until the officiating steps in.

I am just saying that the NFL system is silly. What is the point of having replay if there are loopholes that still allow for referees to blow the game with a call. San Diego lost a game earlier this season due to a blown call as well.

[crimedog]

No doubt we were outplayed all day and deserved to lose, but the Bears were outplayed all day and still had a one point lead with :11 to go two weeks ago against the Falcons. It happens all the time in the NFL. To sneak out of there with a win would have been an absolute steal but it was right there until the officiating steps in.

I am just saying that the NFL system is silly. What is the point of having replay if there are loopholes that still allow for referees to blow the game with a call. San Diego lost a game earlier this season due to a blown call as well.

Yeah, it sucks not even to have a deserved chance to win it.

... and I agree that Smith shouldn't have to factor that in while he's trying to stop the clock and let his team have as much time as possible to move the ball down field.

Like the SD thing though, these things happen unfortunately. The big problem I have is that this wasn't subjective. It wasn't a bad PI call that gave the other team the ball, it wasn't even whether he had his foot on the line or made a catch. It was whether he touched the ball or not and the answer was clearly "not". Then, after it becomes BLATANTLY obvious that he didn't, the refs can't overturn the bad call so they have to walk around acting like they don't know what really transpired.