Falcons forced into silent count in home loss to Bears
ATLANTA — Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. learned earlier this week the team planned to practice with crowd noise and prepare to use a silent count in anticipation of the impact the Bears’ fanbase could produce.
So, the Falcons (2-4) repped silent count “all week,” Penix said, and he feels they executed it well Sunday despite their 31-23 loss to the Bears (4-2) in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
But the fact that it reached that point, Penix admitted, is a difficult pill to swallow.
“The crowd noise thing, it’s always tough, whenever you’re playing at home and you hear early in the week, it’s like, ‘We might got to work silent cadence,’” Penix said postgame. “Because you always expect our fans will overrule the opponents’ fans. But we were ready for it.”
The Bears’ dark navy blue certainly stood out in the stands at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Their presence was evident around the stadium on drives in, and in the tailgate scene, and certainly in the concourse after the game, when an enthused, “Green Bay sucks” chant broke out to jab their rival.
Chants of “Let’s go Bears,” started after most Chicago touchdowns, and even a few defensive series. When the Falcons faced a must-have third-and-long on their final offensive possession, Bears fans yelled in unison and reached a noticeably high audible level.
“It’s just the name of the game,” center Ryan Neuzil said postgame. “Chicago’s a really good team and they just have a bunch of fans worldwide, so they travel really well. It’s always harder to be on silent count.”
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski quickly shut down a question about whether he was disappointed in having to use a silent count at home.
“No, no,” Stefanski said. “Listen, we love our fans. Our fans are so supportive. But we just felt like we knew that we’d likely need to be on the silent count.”
The Falcons never led, and they trailed for the final 52 minutes of regulation Sunday.
They’ve yet to win a game at home this season — they fell 34-3 to the Carolina Panthers in the regular season home opener and 30-23 to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5 — and they’ve trailed by 20-plus points in two of their three home games.
“Shoot, you have to win your games at home,” Stefanski said. “It’s very, very disappointing. This is a place we love to play, and we love to play in front of our fans. And not to be able to win this one stings. We got to find ways to play better and coach better, starting this week.”
The Falcons don’t have to wait long for a chance to get their first home victory. They face the San Francisco 49ers (5-0, pending “Monday Night Football”) at 1 p.m. Sunday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The 49ers, with one of the league’s biggest fanbases, may force the Falcons into a silent count once more.
Before facing the Ravens, running back Bijan Robinson said the key to filling the seats with Falcons fans was winning. “We got to win,” Robinson said Oct. 7. “That’s really it.” The Falcons have lost back-to-back home games since, and opposing fans have been loud in both.
No matter, through six weeks, the Falcons are 2-1 on the road and 0-3 at home. They’ve proved crowd noise and silent counts don’t inherently affect them.
So, what does? Nothing, Penix says. The Falcons merely have to find ways to execute better — and they’ll try to do so Sunday against San Francisco.
“It’s no difference,” Penix said. “It’s football. We’ve got to come out and play. We’ve got to come out and execute no matter where we’re playing at. We’ve got to find a way to win. That’s all it is.”