Falcons’ rally comes up short in 24-23 loss to Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — After a week of soul searching on the heels of another bad loss, the Falcons put forth a gutsy effort.

But in the end, they didn’t have enough to squeeze out the victory and went down 24-23 to the Patriots in a nail-biter before 64,628 Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

Kicker Parker Romo, the recent replacement for Younghoe Koo, missed an extra-point attempt that would have tied the game with 4:40 to play. The Falcons got the ball back but couldn’t put together a game-winning drive.

“We still had an opportunity to win that football game,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “We have to find a way to win that one.”

The Falcons dropped to 3-5 on the season, while the Patriots improved to 7-2.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. tossed three touchdown passes to wide receiver Drake London. He was 22-of-37 for 222 yards and had a passer rating of 103.7. London finished with nine catches for 119 yards.

New England’s Drake Maye completed 19 of 29 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns and an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 102.5.

“We still got a lot of games to go,” Penix said. “I know this team is going to bounce back.”

The Falcons played some opportunistic football as they came up with two key turnovers that they were able to turn into 10 points. The defense pressured Maye with six sacks and six quarterback hits.

After trailing 21-7, the Falcons had the ball with 9:41 to play in a one-score game. Despite struggling to sustain drives, they needed to get moving one time to perhaps tie the game.

They did, as Penix tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to London on fourth down. The defense got the ball back after Romo’s miss.

“It felt good,” Romo said. “Anytime I push it to the right my steps are a little bit too fast, and it makes you swing a little bit inside-out. So, I just have to keep focusing on my fundamentals and get better. Put the ball down the middle so there is no question if they are good or no good.”

Penix stayed with London and tossed a 26-yard completion to get into Patriots territory. But an intentional grounding call derailed the promising drive, and the Falcons punted with 2:03 left, with two timeouts.

The Patriots were clapping and center Ryan Neuzil snapped the ball before Penix was ready.

“We were behind in the clock a little bit,” Neuzil said. “(The) fail safe is just the clap. Head was down and thought I heard it. Just unfortunate.”

Penix thought he was OK because he threw the ball toward tight end Kyle Pitts.

“Supposedly, they were clapping,” Penix said. “Whenever I’m clapping, that means I want the ball. News (Neuzil) said he heard them clapping and he thought it was my clapping. He snapped the ball. I threw the ball in KP’s direction. He had just released on a route. I thought it was going to be OK on the grounding part. Obviously, that wasn’t the cause.”

The Falcons also had an intentional grounding call late in the 20-10 loss to the 49ers on Oct. 19.

The Patriots converted on third down to close out the game. They were 8-of-12 (67%) on third downs in the game, and the Falcons were just 1-of-10 (10%) on third downs.

The Patriots held a 21-14 halftime lead after dominating on third downs.

The Patriots put together three touchdown drives while converting on 5-of-6 third downs (83%), while the Falcons offense was stuck in the mud (0-of-4) on third downs.

The Patriots were threatening to blow the game open, but the Falcons defense came up with the dynamic sack-strip and fumble recovery by Jalon Walker and James Pearce, respectively.

After a run by Penix, the Falcons scored when he tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to London to keep the game close.

To open the game, after a three-and-out by the Falcons, the Patriots went on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took 5:35 off the clock. Maye tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to DeMario Douglas with Walker in coverage for the score.

After an exchange of punts, the Falcons had a short field. On the fifth play, Penix tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to London to make it 7-7 with 24 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Patriots answered with a 12-play, 65-yard drive that included two third-and-long conversions, and a 20-yard pass play to former Falcons tight end Austin Hooper. Terrell Jennings, who played at Florida A&M and was called up from the practice squad, scored on a 3-yard touchdown run.

The Falcons were held again, and the Patriots added an 11-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs to make it 21-7 with 5:11 left in the second quarter.

The Falcons’ ensuing drive stalled as they weren’t able to convert on third and fourth downs. The Patriots had the ball with 1:17 to play and were trying to run out the clock. The Falcons used two timeouts. But the Patriots, after converting another third down, got greedy.

On first-and-10 from Atlanta’s 49, Walker got free and blasted Maye, separating him from the ball and the Falcons were back in the game.

On the first possession of the second half, the Patriots added a 32-yard field goal by Andy Borregales to make it 24-14.

The Falcons continue to struggle on third down and punted the ball back to the Patriots, but safety Jessie Bates III came up with an interception to get the ball back.

“They just overthrew the ball,” Bates said. “We were in cover three. We were able to take advantage of that.”