FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Over the first eight games of the season, the Falcons have failed to meet expectations.
Forget about ending the playoff drought. How about just playing a full game and getting a winning record?
After the embarrassing loss to the Dolphins on Oct. 26, the Falcons (3-5) were expected to put up a battle against the Patriots. They fell behind 21-7 and then battled back before missing an extra-point attempt and botching their potential game-winning drive by falling for an ol’ banana-in-the-tailpipe gag.
Center Ryan Neuzil sent an early snap to quarterback Michael Penix Jr. while the Patriots were clapping to simulate the count. Penix ended up getting an intentional-grounding penalty that essentially ended the promising drive, and the Falcons lost 24-23 at Gillette Stadium.
“A lot of fight,” All-Pro right guard Chris Lindstrom told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We were down 21-7. They had a chance to really take control of the game, and the defense made a huge play.”
The Falcons took some energy with them up North.
“The fight was there,” Lindstrom said. “We didn’t have enough in the end. I think the reflections of this team and what this team is, we were down 21-7 with the (Patriots having a) chance to kind of put us away at the end of the first half, and we fought.”
Here are the five things we learned from the Falcons’ scrappy effort:
Struggles on third downs
The Falcons could not convert on third downs (1-of-10, 10%) and could not stop the Patriots on third downs (8-of-12, 67%). The Falcons helped their cause by going 2-of-3 (66%) on fourth downs.
“Yeah, we were just not executing,” Penix said. “Not executing. I’ve got to be better. If it’s getting through my reads, moving on, finding an open guy, or just whatever it could be. But that’s something we got to look at on film, assess, figure out.”
Falcons coach Raheem Morris knows they must improve on the key third downs.
“Got to find a way to move the chains on third down, maintain possessions,” Morris said. “Got to find a way to get off the grass (defensively). That was part of the keys to victory. We weren’t able to do that. We did get two turnovers to combat that, to allow us to have an opportunity to try to win that game, and we just came up short.”
A blow to chances in NFC South
Perhaps it’s time for the Falcons to lower their expectations. The playoffs seem like a pipe dream, as Carolina has moved past them in the NFC South standings. The NFL website projects the Falcons’ chances of making the playoffs at 13%, down from 18%.
The best plan for the Falcons is to get back to .500 and then see if they can get hot and at least finish with a winning record for the first time since 2017.
The Falcons are in third place in the NFC South.
The Bucs are in first place at 6-2, followed by the Panthers at 5-4. The Saints are 1-8.
The Bucs had a bye.
The Panthers upset the Packers 16-13. Running back Rico Dowdle rushed 25 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns to power the win to get Carolina above .500.
The Saints were blown out 34-10 by the Rams.
Depth challenged on the offensive line
Left guard Matthew Bergeron left the game early with an ankle injury, and Lindstrom went out late with a foot injury. Kyle Hinton took over for Bergeron and Jovaughn Gwyn played for Lindstrom.
Lindstrom is expecting to play against the Colts on Sunday in Berlin.
Bergeron left after only the second play of the game.
“I’m feeling good,” Bergeron said. “It sucks that it happened on the second play of the game. So early. Kyle came in and did a great job. We’ll keep it moving from there.”
Bergeron is hoping to play against the Colts, too.
“It’s day-to-day,” Bergeron. “I didn’t feel it was stable enough. … I felt like Kyle was a better option at the time when it happened. Hopefully, I’ll get treatment all week, take care of it, and hopefully I’ll back in there for the next game.”
Bijan Robinson held under 100
This was the third game in a row the opposition held running back Bijan Robinson to under 100 scrimmage yards.
Robinson has 12 rushes for 46 yards and caught eight passes for 50 yards.
“When we are all rolling and doing what we’re supposed to do, it’s very hard for teams to stop us,” Robinson said. “When we are executing the right way.”
London makes nice one-handed grab
Wide receiver Drake London had nine catches for 118 yards and his three-touchdown game was the first of his career.
He made a spectacular one-handed grab on a fourth-down play to pull the Falcons within a point in the fourth quarter.
London became the first Falcons player with three or more receiving touchdowns in a road game since Andre Rison in Week 3 of the 1993 season.
“Whatever the plan is, I just try to go out there and execute,” London said. “That’s pretty much it.”
London is fine with the stats, but wants to get back in the win column.
“We need to get back on the train tracks and keep on pushing forward,” London said.
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