The Atlanta Falcons Did It Again

One week ago the Atlanta Falcons blew a 29-10 fourth quarter lead to the Dallas Cowboys in which they allowed Dallas to recover one of the slowest and weirdest onside kicks in NFL history. In that game, the NFL’s NextGen Stats had them at a 98 percent win probability, before their implosion.

On Sunday, the Falcons looked to bounce back against the Chicago Bears, and once again looked to have a stranglehold on the proceedings when they took a 26-10 lead into the fourth quarter, and, once again, had a 98 percent win probability. The Bears had already benched Mitchell Trubisky for Nick Foles after the former No. 2 overall pick threw one of the worst interceptions of the week, and Foles entered the game and immediately marched the Bears down the field only to throw a pick in the end zone of his own.

The Bears would have a ton of chances, including a 4th and goal from the 17 that saw Anthony Miller drop a touchdown pass that would’ve pulled them within, potentially, one possession. However, the Atlanta Falcons were not going to give up on their dream of blowing two assured wins in back-to-back weeks, as the offense stalled out and the Bears would indeed proceed to score 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, punctuated by this dime from Foles on 3rd and 9 with just under two minutes to play.

Still, this left the Falcons with ample time to drive the field and swipe a victory away from the jaws of defeat, as the Bills did earlier in the afternoon when they blew a 28-3 lead to the Rams (something the Falcons know all about) only to see Josh Allen win it in the closing seconds.

The Falcons are not the Bills and Matt Ryan is not Josh Allen, though, which is a truly incredible sentence to write. Ryan ended up tossing a game-sealing interception as they crossed midfield, putting a bow on two of the worst meltdowns in NFL history, in back-to-back weeks.

It’s the first time a team has blown two 15-point leads in the fourth quarter in a single season in more than 20 years, and happened in two consecutive weeks. The Bears scored all 20 of their points in 4:17. The Falcons win probability charts look like the stock market in early and then late March.

As a Browns fan, even I cannot imagine the depths of despair of watching this Falcons team with any sort of investment. Godspeed to you all. They play again next Monday night in Green Bay.