The Good, The Bad, The Ugly as Atlanta Falcons Fall to Colts in Berlin

The Atlanta Falcons went to Germany over the weekend to face the Indianapolis Colts. They played the AFC leader into overtime before falling for their fourth time in four games.

Familiar problems plagued Atlanta, and some new ones popped up. But it wasn't all bad, as we get into the good, the bad, and the ugly from the 31-25 overtime loss to Indianapolis.

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The Good

● Drake London is fourth in the NFL at 86.4 yards per game and is tied for fourth with six touchdowns. Four of those touchdowns have come in Atlanta's last two games, including a six-catch, 104-yard, and one touchdown effort on Sunday against the Colts. Bijan Robinson may be the engine of the Falcons' offense, but Drake London is the heart and soul. He's the only consistent outside threat on the team, and he blocks like a man possessed.

● With another seven sacks on Sunday, the Falcons moved to tied for fifth in the NFL with 29 in nine games. The seven sacks came from seven different players. Atlanta has 13 sacks in the last two games. They had just 18 sacks in all of 2021.

With the sack yardage counting against passing, the Colts had 196 yards through the air. Atlanta has only given up more than 200 yards passing once this season (221 vs. New England).

● The Falcons' defense held the Colts to 1 of 11 on third downs in regulation and 2 of 12 overall. The good work moved Atlanta up to 19th in the NFL in third-down defense at 40%, a big improvement over their No. 31 finish in 2024.

● Atlanta was 3 for 3 in the red zone on offense. Scoring touchdowns has been a problem for Atlanta, but Tyler Allgeier had a pair of red zone touchdowns, and London opened the Falcons' scoring with a well-schemed route that isolated him on a linebacker. Atlanta moved up to No. 17 in red zone scoring after their 1.000 average on Sunday.

● Rookies Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. combined for a sack fumble again. It's the second time the first-round edge rushers combined for a sack/takeaway, giving the Falcons a glimpse of what they were hoping for when they drafted them. Atlanta is a high-risk, high-reward team right now, but if their edge rushers can get pressure without having to bring extra defenders, the defense will be less susceptible to big plays.

JAMES PEARCE JR AND JALON WALKER

SACK FUMBLE AND RECOVERY

NFLN | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/RRYiBMhPxO
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 9, 2025

The Bad

● The dropped passes. Kyle Pitts dropped a would-be big gain in the first quarter. Darnell Mooney's drop in the fourth quarter was tipped, but he had plenty of time to adjust to the changed rotation of the ball and make the catch.

● Two plays after Pitts's drop, the Falcons have to take a timeout as the play clock is running out on third down. They come out of the timeout, and Penix begins relaying the call with 23 seconds on the play clock. It takes 10 seconds for him to get the call to the rest of the team, and they break the huddle with 13 seconds on the clock.

The protections aren't clear, the hot routes aren't clear, Penix doesn't have time to diagnose the defense pre-snap, and a free rusher comes from Penix's blind side for a fumble that leads to the Colts' first points.

If it's taking 10 seconds for Penix to relay the play call to his teammates, what are the odds each of the 11 players knows exactly what's going on? Plus, the inability to make adjustments at the line leads to the inevitable disaster.

● Raheem Morris's end-of-half (and game) clock management continues to befuddle. Kaden Elliss sacked Daniel Jones with 58 seconds left in the first half to make it 3rd and 11 inside Colts' territory. Morris didn't use a timeout; the Colts were happy not to risk another negative play, and when they turned the ball over on the next play, the Falcons didn't have time to build on the momentum.

Indianapolis had all three timeouts. Morris stopping the clock in that situation wouldn't have been the deciding factor if the Colts converted on 3rd and 11 and went on to score.

Atlanta nursed a 14-13 lead into the half. When they had a chance to play to win, Morris once again came up short and played not to lose.

Calling a timeout with 23 seconds and the clock running to let the Colts gather themselves for a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation was also questionable.

The Ugly

● The Falcons gave up 323 yards rushing. That's a franchise record. The Falcons had only given up 300 yards or more four times in their previous 60 seasons with the second-highest total (321) coming in 1976 against the Cleveland Browns.

Through three quarters, the Falcons held Jonathan Taylor and the Colts relatively in check. He had 70 yards after 40 minutes and finished with 244. An 83-yard touchdown run where the Falcons' defense didn't play to the whistle was the big blow.

However, last week the Falcons cut defensive lineman Ta'Quon Graham, LaCale London was left off the active roster without an injury designation, and Sam Roberts got hurt on the first series. Atlanta was down three defensive linemen, two by choice.

Ruke Orhorhoro played 62 snaps. His previous career high was 43, and he's only played more than 30 four times prior to Sunday. In short, he was forced to play two games.

David Onyemata turns 33 on Thursday, and played 54 snaps, his high as a Falcons player and his most snaps since 2020. Zach Harrison played a career high 47, after being out with injury the previous two weeks.

There's getting beat, and there are self-inflicted wounds. The Falcons were victims of both on Sunday.

● Darnell Mooney had one catch on eight targets. He did draw two penalties on shots downfield, but in his last three games, he has three catches on 14 targets for 43 yards. It's not all on Mooney, as Michael Penix Jr.'s ugly 12 for 28 passing would show, but Mooney has been a net negative in this offense in 2025.

● Special teams coordinator Marquice Williams was a holdover from Arthur Smith's staff. The Falcons were atrocious on special teams in 2024, and it hasn't gotten better in 2025. The Falcons averaged 22.1 yards on seven kick returns, and the Colts averaged 34.8 yards on four kick returns, including a 49 and a 50-yarder from Ameer Abdullah and Ashton Dulin, respectively.

Joshua Downs threw in a critical 24-yard punt return for more hidden yardage.

Nothing is overly surprising when it comes to the Falcons, but Morris sticking by a guy he inherited raises more questions about how Williams is still on staff.

● Third down offense. The Atlanta Falcons were 0-8 on third downs. 1-19 in the last two games, and 3-39 in the last three. One look at Penix under pressure, you know, in third and long situations, shows how completely unprepared he is to deal with a blitz, from a pre-snap standpoint to the receivers available to him.

On 3rd and 4 or longer, Penix is 27 of 58 (46.6%) with a touchdown and six sacks. Considering he has 18 first downs on those 27 passes, and only three in the last three games, those numbers are getting significantly worse, not better.

The passing game is a collective failure, but it's considerably easier to change an offensive coordinator than it is a No. 8 overall pick. There will be changes in 2026. Only Arthur Blank knows if they'll happen before then.

The Falcons sit at 3-6 and now enter "the easy" part of their schedule. Atlanta is home against the Panthers before going on the road to play the Saints and Jets. The Saints have just one fewer win than the Falcons, and the Jets have won two in a row. Atlanta is 0-3 as a favorite this season.

The NFL is a one-score league where wins and losses happen in the margins: turnovers, 3rd down conversions, clock management, penalties, special teams. The Atlanta Falcons are failing in the margins, and it's derailed a once-promising season.