Where Do The Atlanta Falcons Go From Here?
Dale Zanine- USA Today Sports
Coming into the Sunday’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns, the Atlanta Falcons were atop the NFC South division despite a lopsided 4-6 record. In direct contrast were the Browns, whom coming into the game had a 6-4 record, but were at the bottom of the AFC North rankings.
Odd, huh? What’s even more eerie is how Sunday’s game ended.
Falcons fan or not, you have to agree the end result of Sunday’s game has to be one of the most catastrophic conclusions in recent memory. A combination of poor clock management, misuse of timeouts and questionable situational play calling by head coach Mike Smith down the stretch cost the Falcons a much-needed win. It is not often that a team in perfect field goal position with 50 seconds left in a game fail to melt the clock and force the opposing defense to use their timeouts.
It is also not often where one quarterback has less turnovers (Matt Ryan, 27/43, 273 yards, one pick) than the opposing quarterback (Brian Hoyer, three interceptions) and his team ends up on the losing side. However, it did not help Atlanta either that their defense was ripped to shreds by Cleveland’s two-headed-monster rookie running backs of Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West to the tune of 150 combined yards.
After the loss, things went from silver lining to dark cloud for the Falcons as far as the outlook for the remainder of the season. Their playoff door has closed shut for now. The franchise may as well gear up and look forward to next season, although there are still five games remaining.
As for Cleveland fans, optimism should be in full swing. Josh Gordon returned and contributed with his 120 receiving yards. At a point in the season where the Browns are in an intense battle in the tight AFC West race, that is a huge bright spot. If Hoyer can minimize on those miscalculated throws that lead to interceptions, the Browns can make that climb up that division. Only time will tell though.
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