After the Falcons’ disappointing 17-10 road loss to the Houston Texans, Atlanta head coach Mike Smith did what he always does after games, win or lose. Smith used a calm and measured delivery when he told Falcons First Take, “We didn’t perform like we need to, to get a ‘W’ and there are a lot of things we need to fix.”
The Falcons’ running game never got started. They carried the ball just 18 times for 70 yards on the afternoon. Quarterback Matt Ryan also threw two interceptions. But even more painful are the mental errors that flashed up in the form of point-erasing penalties.
The Falcons were only charged with seven penalties for 43 yards Sunday, but the statistics are silently misleading. Two Falcon penalties that fall under the heading of mental lapses or even “boneheaded” took two touchdowns away.
In the first quarter, with third down and eight on the Atlanta 15 yard line, defensive end Vance Walker hit the hand and forearm of Houston quarterback T.J. Yates, causing a fumble near the Atlanta sideline. Unfortunately, Falcons coaches and players were on the field preparing for what they thought was an upcoming field goal attempt by the Texans.
Only one player, safety James Sanders kept on playing, even though the officials on the field never blew their whistles. Sanders picked up the ignored football at about the Falcons 10 yard line and jogged all the way to the end zone.
Atlanta (7-5), and later Houston, were flagged for illegal participation because players on both side were transitioning on and off the field on the play. Atlanta eventually was given possession of the ball, but instead of an instant touchdown, the Falcons needed a lengthy drive to score.
An apparent miscommunication by Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones ended up as an interception returned into Falcons territory. With the short field to work with, the Texans (9-3) converted just one first down, then, kicked a field goal. The sequence was bad enough for a 10-point swing.
That play may provide Smith a coaching opportunity, but will also probably cost him some sleep this week too. On the other costly penalty, Smith probably hopes one guy would have stopped playing before the play was finished.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, linebacker Mike Peterson intercepted Yates, and returned the ball to the Houston end zone. But once again, a penalty nullified the return. Cornerback Dunta Robinson was flagged for holding Houston receiver Kevin Walter on the opposite side of the field when Walter was appeared to be breaking free. For the second time in a game on the road and a very good opponent, a touchdown that the Falcons “scored” didn’t count. When the referees awarded Houston the ball back, they drove down the once again shortened field and scored the game winning touchdown 14 plays later.
The Falcons are a good team, but something shy of a great team. Against Houston, they couldn’t run early and were hampered by a passing game that included interceptions, drops and not enough offensive skill guys making plays.
The defense keeps improving and will have to do some heavy lifting if the Falcons are going to play football after the regular seasons ends on New Year’s Day. The defense now needs to improve even a little more, by eliminating the game changing penalties. That’s just plain true, fair or unfair.
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