The Atlanta Falcons’ season may come down to one decision — when head coach Raheem Morris foolishly did not call a timeout in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
After driving the length of the field and hitting tight end Kyle Pitts for a game-tying touchdown with under two minutes left in Sunday night’s game against the Commanders, the Falcons’ defense came up with a three-and-out stop on the ensuing possession to give rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. a chance at glory with 40 seconds left to get his team in position to kick a winning field goal.
On the first play of their final drive, beginning with 40 seconds left, Penix immediately put the Falcons in business by nailing Darnell Mooney down the right sideline for 25 yards.
Mooney was tackled in bounds, and the Atlanta offense, which still had two timeouts, began frantically running to the line of scrimmage to get a play off as precious seconds ticked off the clock.
By the time the next play had been completed — an incomplete pass to Mooney — 23 seconds had passed, leaving Atlanta with 17 seconds remaining.
The Falcons would go on to be able to attempt a 56-yard game-winning field goal, but Riley Patterson’s boot would fall several yards short as Atlanta went into overtime with a timeout burning a hole in their back pocket.
Jayden Daniels made them pay. The Commanders’ stud rookie quarterback led a 70-yard touchdown drive on the first possession of overtime to give Washington a 30-24 win and a spot in the playoffs.
The Falcons’ loss handed control of the NFC South back to the Buccaneers, who play host to the 5-11 Saints on Sunday with a win clinching the division.
“In hindsight, it could have been a good decision or a better decision to take that timeout, but I wanted to have the opportunity to move up there,” Morris said, according to ESPN.com.
“You always second-guess those things; you can always second-guess those motives. You can always go back and look at it and see if you can get it snapped a little bit quicker.”
With a win, the Falcons would have kept control of their own destiny for the playoffs.
“He calls the timeout whenever he feels fit and he trusted us to get a play off and make the next play,” Penix said after the game. “So, we all trust coach’s judgment on that.”
Morris is in his first year as head coach after being given the head coaching job over now-North Carolina Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick in the offseason.
