If you’ve been a Falcons fan for even one year, you’ve seen some pretty excruciating losses. This is an organization that has pissed down their own leg in big moments more than any other in sports, especially on the biggest stages. I won’t even say it, but you know what I am referring to. The Falcons have become known around America as the team that finds new ways to lose.
But on Monday night, the script was flipped. With under two minutes to go and no timeouts remaining for the good guys, the Eagles had an opportunity to ice the game by converting a 3rd and 3. They had run the ball the entire half without nearly any resistance, but they opted to get a little cute, sending Saquon Barkley into the flat on a play-action pass. The play actually worked to perfection. Barkley was open with green grass in front of him. However, he forgot the most important part of the play, catching the ball.
When the ball hit the grass, it stopped the clock. Giving the Falcons an extra 40 seconds for a potential game-winning drive, and presenting Nick Sirianni with yet another difficult decision — go for it and ice the game, or kick the field goal to go up six and hope your defense can keep a Kirk Cousins-led offense out of the end zone.
Sirianni chose the latter, giving the Falcons the ball back with just over 1:30 to play down six points, a decision he might be re-thinking this Tuesday morning. Because in just three plays, the Falcons found themselves in the red zone, and a couple of plays later, Kirk Cousins hit Drake London in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
If it felt like a miracle, it’s because it was. According to ESPN’s Next Gen Stats, the Falcons had less than a 1% chance of winning last night’s game with under 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons had just a 0.7% chance of winning with 1:56 left in the 4th quarter, according to the NGS win probability model.
The comeback is the 7th-most improbable win in the NGS era (since 2016).#ATLvsPHI | @AtlantaFalcons pic.twitter.com/iZF0nkwHvx
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 17, 2024
This is the kind of loss the Falcons have become notorious for over the years. Only this time, it was the Eagles pissing down their leg in the biggest moments of the game.
I’m not one to typically believe in curses. However, when it comes to the Atlanta Falcons, I’ve had no choice but to accept a higher power must be involved. There’s no other explanation, but if Monday was a sign of things to come, perhaps Raheem Morris really is the guy to put an end to all of that.
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Photo: Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire
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