Raheem Morris Not Interested in 'Emotional Decision' Regarding Falcons Special Teams

The Atlanta Falcons have nearly perfected the art of winning the majority of statistical battles, only to lose the game.

It happened again on Sunday in New Jersey as the Falcons dropped another game they should have won against the New York Jets. The Falcons dominated first downs, total yards, time of possession, and penalties, but they lose the special teams battle in a big way en route to a 27-24 loss.

The Falcons averaged 21.0 yards on five kick returns. For context, they are last in the NFL at 22.2 yards per return and got worse. The Jets set up a field goal after an 83-yard kick return (their only return of the day) in the fourth quarter that tied the game 17-17.

"We've got to tackle," head coach Raheem Morris said after the game. "You know that's two weeks in a row we haven't played well on kicking the ball off. We chose to kick it out a bunch today, and that was one more time I should have chose to kick it out again."

Jamal Agnew had three punt returns; he totaled -1 yard and -1 football. His fumble at the Falcons' six-yard line set up the game's first touchdown.

"You've got to let that go," Morris said of Agnew's fumble. "You've got to let it go; you've got to let it touch the ground. Obviously, you put the ball on the ground, you give them the ball on the two-yard line, they get it, touchdown. It'll hurt you."

It was Agnew's third fumble on 44 combined punt and kick returns. He's fumbled twice in the last two games.

It's not a stretch to say special teams directly cost the Falcons a victory against the Jets, but this isn't a new issue.

Atlanta is 30th in yards per punt return, 32nd in yards per kick return, and 25th in field goal percentage among 32 teams. Defending isn't much better. They're dead last in kickoff coverage as well.

Last season, the Falcons were 32nd in covering punts, 24th in kick returns, and 31% in field goal percentage. Special teams were bad last season. They're a disaster in 2025.

When asked if he would consider making a change, Morris bristled at the question.

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"You'd love to get rid of people today," Morris snapped back. "But we don't make emotional decisions, we know that. We won't talk about those things. We never do that. It's not our code. It's not our ethics. It's not who we are. It's not what we are. It's not a decision, that's not what we do today."

To be fair, Morris isn't going to publicly fire someone in a press conference 15 minutes after a game. But the question remains, how does special teams coordinator Marquise Williams still have a job?

Morris didn't hire him. He was a holdover from Arthur Smith's staff. When defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake and defensive line coach Jay Rodgers were fired after last season, many expected Williams to join them.

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Williams was retained, and the performance of the special teams may cost Morris his job.

"The Falcons might be a playoff-bound team if they had a competent special teams unit," ESPN's Marc Raimondi pondered on Monday morning.

No, the Falcons weren't going to announce a change in special teams when Morris was asked. He could have answered the question better than saying it wasn't going to be an emotional decision.

Making illogical decisions hasn't worked out too well for him either this season.