DEL.ICIO.USLate call hurts as Falcons fall to Eagles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Philadelphia — The stage was set for another thrilling fourth-quarter ending for the Falcons.
In their last game, the Falcons showed that 11 seconds was enough time to snatch back a victory and that rookie quarterback Matt Ryan has a flare for the dramatic.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Wide receiver Roddy White breaks away for the first of his two touchdowns to give the Falcons an early lead over the Eagles.
On Sunday, trailing Philadelphia by six points, the Falcons defense had did their job and forced a punt.
Ryan was on the sideline with quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave getting the calls from offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who was up in the booth.
However, a controversial call on the punt return left the Falcons without the ball and sent them spiraling to a 27-14 defeat at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Falcons were trailing 20-14 in a hard-hitting contest and figured to get the ball back with just over two minutes remaining.
The Falcons had a punt return set up, but the ball was short. Punt returner Adam Jennings tried to field the punt and then backed off.
The officials ruled that the ball touched him and that the Eagles’ Akeem Jordan recovered it.
“I felt like it didn’t touch me, but I can’t control what people see,” Jennings said.
Falcons coach Mike Smith didn’t want to place the defeat on Jennings’ decision to back off with a punt return called.
“I don’t think you can ever say that there is one play in the football game that makes the difference,” Smith said. “There are a number of plays that we’d like to have had back in that ball game.”
The defeat dropped the Falcons to 4-3, while the Eagles improved to 4-3.
When the Falcons got word that the replay indicated that Jennings did not touch the ball, they were in bad spot because Smith had already used the last timeout.
Without a timeout, the Falcons had to live with the call on the field. Smith, clutching the red challenge flag, vehemently protested to referee Jerome Boger, of Atlanta.
“He said that since we do not have a timeout that we could not challenge it,” said Smith, who considered throwing the challenge flag anyway. “It would be a 15-yard penalty if we threw the flag. His explanation was what he thought he saw. He thought he saw the ball touch the return man’s hands. That’s the call that was made.”
After stopping the Eagles, the Falcons used their timeout with 2:28 remaining. Smith explained the decision to burn the last timeout.
“At that point in time when there was two minutes and 30 seconds [actually 2:28] to go, we used the timeout to have more time,” Smith said. “By using the time out there we would save 31 seconds (actually 28). We still had a timeout technically with the two-minute warning. If we let that roll to the two minute warning we basically run 28, 29 seconds off. That was a decision that we made.”
Two plays after the muffed punt, Philadelphia running back Brian Westbrook broke free for a 39-yard touchdown run for the game’s final touchdown.
“I think we had our chances and opportunities to win the football game at the end and that’s all that you can ask for,” Smith said.
The Falcons defense had trouble with Westbrook all day. He ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns.
“Anytime he gets the ball in his hands he can make plays,” defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux said. “He did a good job against us making plays. He got the edge a few times on us and was able to make some plays.”
The Falcons rushing attack, which entered the game ranked second in the league, was stymied. Running back Michael Turner was held to 58 yards on 17 carries.
The Falcons scored first when Ryan hooked up with Roddy White for a 55-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Philadelphia answered with a 3-yard touchdown run from quarterback Donovan McNabb.
The Eagles got a 36-yard field goal with four seconds left in the second quarter after driving down from Atlanta’s 12 in 41 seconds to take 10-7 halftime lead.
On the Eagles opening drive of the second half, Westbrook scored on a 16-yard run to make it 17-7.
After an exchange of punts, the Falcons drove down to Philadelphia’s 1-yard line. On second-and-1, Ryan’s pass for White on a fade route was intercepted by Lito Sheppard.
“That’s obviously frustrating, especially as a quarterback when you throw an interception on the 1-yard line,” Ryan said. “That was just a poor throw by myself. The ball needs to get outside.”
After another exchange of punts, the Eagles added a 18-yard field goal by David Akers to make it 20-7.
The Falcons answered with a 14-play drive. Ryan tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to White with 4:01 left.
The defense got the necessary stop, to set the stage for the punt return that never happened.
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