Falcons’ Missed Chances, Special Teams Woes Doom Them Again in Berlin

BERLIN, DE – Daniel Jones spat some blood out of his mouth as he lined up under center. The Atlanta Falcons had sacked the Indianapolis Colts quarterback seven times after getting pressure on 16 of his 39 dropbacks.

The hits kept coming, but the high-powered Colts’ offense did not miss a beat, and they orchestrated the game-tying drive that sent this game into overtime. Their success would continue into the extra period, and they snatched the win from the Falcons’ grasp.

The Falcons Podcast: Spotify | Apple Pods | WATCH

The Falcons trailed for just four minutes in the second half, but it would not be enough to get a win. It was a heartbreaker that this Falcons team has grown well accustomed to. Missed opportunities and several clear shortcomings plagued this team throughout the game.

"We had plenty of opportunities to win,” head coach Raheem Morris said. “We just gotta find a way to get better, whether it's stopping the run, whether it's covering kicks better, returning the ball better, or converting on third down. These things hurt us today."

Special teams issues have been a thorn in the side of this team all season. When it is not one thing, it is something else. The kicking game was steady in Week 10, but the coverage unit gave up far too many free yards.

Josh Downs had a 24-yard punt return. Ameer Abdullah and Ashton Dulin combined to return four kicks for 139 yards.

Whether it came from a turnover or a special teams blunder, the Colts started at midfield or in Falcons territory on five separate drives – that includes three separate possessions in the fourth quarter and overtime.

“Those guys made us pay in all facets,” Morris said. “One was a missed punt. We can't kick that into the middle of the field. A couple of those things were on kickoffs. We gotta find a way to hold leverage and make those tackles. We can't give them great field position like that. That team is too good on offense to allow those guys to have a short field, and we did.”

When it wasn’t the special teams issues burning them, it was Jonathan Taylor. The all-world running back finished with 286 total yards and three touchdowns, including one for 83 yards. That carry was the longest NFL play of the season, and capped the third possession that the Falcons allowed a touchdown drive in two plays or less.

By the final whistle, the Falcons had allowed 519 yards of total offense.

On offense, the ball was moving relatively nicely – well, at least they did on the ground.

The Falcons ran 29 times for 140 yards against the Colts. Bijan Robinson went for 84, while Tyler Allgeier added 57 yards and two touchdowns.

Michael Penix Jr. and this passing attack could not say the same. The second-year quarterback completed just 42.8% of his attempts for 177 yards. Drake London was tremendous, despite being shaded by one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, but the others were not. Three passes were dropped. Routes were mistimed. Drives suffered. The offense stalled out.

The Falcons did not convert a single third down in Week 10. It was just the second time in franchise history that this happened, with the last instance occurring in the woeful 2007 season that garnered them the third overall pick.

Sunday continued a nasty trend for the Falcons on offense. They have just three third-down conversions in their last three games.

“You gotta get better [on third downs],” Morris explained. “Something that was a strength for us has become a weakness over the last two weeks. You gotta find a way to convert third downs. You gotta get them shorter. You gotta get them more manageable. We gotta get them.”

Their average down-and-distance was third-and-eight. That is not a recipe for success.

Despite the woeful performance there, the Falcons were able to put up 25 points. They had nearly the same number of first downs (22) as the Colts (25) despite running 14 fewer plays.

Missed opportunities were the story of the morning in Berlin as the Falcons dropped their fourth consecutive game.

Each loss has felt familiar, not just because of the mistakes, but because of how fixable they all seemed. Now, Atlanta will return home staring down a 3-6 record and a season that has quickly slipped out of its grasp.