Jets send Falcons reeling in defeat on walk-off field goal

“We’ve got to do better,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said.

The Falcons couldn’t hold another fourth-quarter lead, as they collapsed over the final 8:53 of the game.

The Jets improved to 3-9. The Falcons are now 4-8, with five games to play. The most likely path to the playoffs meant winning the division, but the Buccaneers (7-5) and Panthers (7-6) both won. The Saints lost, falling to 2-10.

The Falcons are three games behind the Bucs in the NFC South with five games to play.

The Falcons wasted a big game from running back Bijan Robinson, who rushed 23 times for 142 yards and a touchdown. He also caught five passes for 51 yards.

“It’s tough man,” Robinson said. “You want to win. That’s why we are here. That’s why we practice so hard. That’s why you go every day about our business the way we do to get wins.

“For us, we fell short of that today. We have to go back to the drawing board.”

Tight end Kyle Pitts caught seven passes for 82 yards but declined to talk after the game.

“Difficult loss,” said quarterback Kirk Cousins, who completed 21 of 33 passes for 234 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. “This is pro football and today we’re on the down side of it.”

Cousins finished with a passer rating of 94.8.

“It’s a dog fight every week,” Cousins said. “You just never know which way it’s going to break.”

The Falcons took a 24-17 lead with 8:46 to play. The defense couldn’t hold the lead, and the offense couldn’t regain it after the Jets put together a 15-play drive to tie the game.

“We had a couple chances to win on offense,” Morris said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win on defense. We were able to go out there and move the ball pretty effectively today. We didn’t do as well as you want to do in the first half, particularly on third downs.”

Behind a last-ditch touchdown drive, the Falcons and Jets were tied 7-7 at halftime.

With neither team able to sustain drives, the Jets got a big break when Falcons returner Jamal Agnew muffed a punt inside the 10-yard line. Jets cornerback Qwan’Tez Stiggers recovered the ball at the 2-yard line. Breece Hall scored on the next play to make it 7-0.

As the offenses continued to sputter, the Falcons received the ball at their 38 with just over two minutes left before halftime.

Robinson busted loose for a 16-yard run to start off the drive. Cousins connected with Pitts on third-and-4 from the Jets’ 40 to keep the drive alive and convert their first third down of the game.

Four plays later, a defensive pass interference call moved the ball to the 1. The Falcons put offensive guard Jovaughn Gwyn in at fullback and couldn’t punch it in. On the next play, Tyler Allgeier slammed into the end zone with 9 seconds left in the first half.

The Falcons defense held the Jets on their opening drive of the third quarter.

Cousins, with the help of a roughing-the-passer penalty, put together an eight-play, 95-yard touchdown drive to take the lead. Robinson scored on a nifty 5-yard touchdown run that he bounced outside for the score. Zane Gonzalez’s kick made it 14-7 with 9:36 left in the third quarter.

The lead didn’t last long as Jets quarterback Tyrod Taylor connected with Adonai Mitchell for a 52-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14 with 8:58 to play in the third quarter. Cornerback Mike Hughes fell down in coverage.

“I got tripped up a little bit,” Hughes said. “I’ve got to be better.”

Gonzalez missed a 50-yard field goal wide right. Folk missed a 55-yarder that was short.

Gonzalez then made a 52-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter to put the Falcons up 17-14.

But the Falcons’ kickoff coverage unit, which has struggled all season, gave up an 83-yard return by Isaiah Williams. Natrone Brooks chased him down, and the defense held to force a 32-yard field goal by Folk with 13:23 to play.

The Falcons answered with a touchdown drive, keyed by a 31-yard pass play to Allgeier. Cousins tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to David Sills V to make it 24-17.

Then things started getting weird.

The Falcons’ kickoff went into the end zone, and the Jets had a favorable drive start at the 35-yard line.

Taylor cobbled together a 15-play drive with three third-down conversions and one on fourth down. He scored on a 10-yard scramble with 1:53 to play.

“I’ve got to get him on the ground,” Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “It’s stinks. That was a drive that lagged on that shouldn’t have. We had many opportunities to close it out. Also, give them (respect). They made the plays they needed to make.”

The Falcons couldn’t move the ball and were forced to punt. The Jets couldn’t move it, either.

The Falcons then threw three incompletions, and the Jets were set up for the game-winning drive with 35 seconds left.

Over the previous five games, the Falcons did not clear the 40% conversion rate on third downs.

They converted 18.2% against Miami, 10% against New England, 0% against Indianapolis (0-of-8), 36.4% against Carolina and 25.9% against New Orleans. On Sunday, the Falcons were just 4-for-12 on third downs (33%).

The Falcons are set to host the Seahawks at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Morris fired his wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard after the third game of the season for “performance issues.”

The offense and the special teams units have under-performed this season. Morris was asked if he’s considering firing his coordinators.

“We don’t make emotional decisions,” Morris said. “We won’t talk about those things. We never do that. It’s not our code. It’s not who we are. What we are. That’s not what we do.”

The Falcons need to win-out to post a winning record or they will record their eighth consecutive losing season, trying the franchise mark set from 1983-1990.

“To win them,” Morris said about what would be his approach to the rest of the season.