‘Not who we are’ — Falcons rue late-game letdown but carry belief in identity

FLOWERY BRANCH — The vacant seat on Michael Penix Jr.’s left side wasn’t empty for long. Bijan Robinson came to the side of his starting quarterback, sat down and delivered a mental reset.

The Falcons’ defense still had a chance to end it. The Baltimore Ravens were in a goal-to-go setting, trailing 23-15 and needing to do the statistically unfathomable — according to CBS, teams behind by 8-plus points inside the final minute had lost 581 straight games.

But Robinson wanted to ensure that, in the event the Falcons needed another drive, they were on the same page. Robinson wanted to make sure his quarterback was good. Penix responded well.

“I think sometimes you just feel it as a teammate and as a brother, like, just go over there and talk to him real quick,” Robinson said. “I think it helped him out a lot, brought positive spirits into him.”

Then, everything broke loose inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The Falcons’ defense faltered. The Ravens scored a touchdown, then converted the 2-point conversion. Penix took a big hit and injured his ribs on the ensuing drive. The game went to overtime. The Ravens had a 14-play touchdown drive that took over seven minutes. Penix couldn’t play, and backup Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception two plays into the drive.

Game over. Ravens 30, Falcons 23. The 581-game streak ended. Positive spirits subsided.

“It sucks,” tight end Kyle Pitts said postgame. “Lost the game. We’ll go back to the drawing board, see what we need to fix (and) fix those details going in next week.”

The Falcons left Sunday night with a rather clear idea of areas to clean up. They had three drives in the second half that went 10-plus plays and ended in field goals. They possessed the ball for over 21 minutes but scored only 9 points.

In short? The Falcons had chances to end Sunday night’s game long before their defense allowed the Ravens to score late in regulation.

“When you have opportunities to put them away and score a touchdown or whatever it might be, and make that one extra play, that’s what you have to do versus these guys,” Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said. “And that’s just us as a team.

“We will own this one together, and we’ll find ways to be better in those moments.”

Margins are razor thin, Stefanski said. Perhaps even a fingertip.

On a 10-play, 60-yard drive, Penix nearly hit Jake Matthews — yes, the left tackle — for a touchdown pass on second-and-goal, but the pass sailed a tad high, Matthews jumped early and the ball grazed off the edge of his fingers. Two plays later, the Falcons settled for a 23-yard field goal.

Red zone execution hadn’t been an issue for the Falcons, who scored touchdowns on eight of their 10 trips in Penix’s first two starts. They found the end zone on only one of their three trips Sunday night.

“It’s on us to help the defense (and) score touchdowns,” Robinson said. “And we fell short of that. But it’s on us to go back and just watch what we did wrong or if we had to clean up something. Just get better.”

The Falcons’ defense picked up the offense in the first quarter, when Atlanta tallied only 36 total yards and Penix didn’t complete a pass.

Yet because of a 36-yard scoop-and-score from safety Jessie Bates III and back-to-back forced punts, the Falcons left the first quarter with the lead. It was the first time since 2017 the team led after the opening period despite not completing a pass, according to ESPN.

And while the Falcons’ offense settled for field goals in the second half, the defense appeared to have the game under control. Before the Ravens’ game-tying drive, the Falcons forced consecutive three-and-outs. They pressured Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley on 14 of his first 26 drop-backs, including four sacks and eight hits.

Then, the defense fell silent.

During the Ravens’ last two drives, the Falcons pressured Huntley on just one of his final 12 drop-backs, according to Next Gen Stats. He went a perfect 12-for-12 passing for 106 yards, plus a go-ahead 1-yard rushing touchdown in overtime. The Ravens ran 20 plays, picked up 11 first downs and gained 115 yards.

The Falcons couldn’t get the stop they desperately needed.

“Give credit where credit’s due, man — they’re a good team,” defensive tackle Maason Smith told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “At the end of the game, they just made more plays than us.”

In overtime, the Ravens rushed nine times for 36 yards. Four of Huntley’s five passes went for first downs. Baltimore discovered a balance of complementary football that proved too much for the Falcons to overcome.

Bates doesn’t believe fatigue was a factor. The Falcons often talk about going into the deep water and surviving. In those moments, they feel people — and teams — are defined. Bates, however, feels this isn’t a representative sample of the quality of the Falcons’ defense.

“That’s not who we are,” Bates said. “That last drive, they just ran the ball very well, very effective. We just got to be better in that moment. And honestly, we shouldn’t even have gotten overtime. We got an 8-point lead, (and) the defense that we have, I think that’s when you want to close out those types of teams. We didn’t do it.”

The Falcons entered Sunday night with the NFL’s best run defense, holding teams to under 50 rushing yards per game. It was a glaring strength through four games, but it wilted against Baltimore’s fourth-ranked ground game.

The Ravens eclipsed 50 rushing yards on their opening drive and ultimately finished with 208 yards on the ground, the most Atlanta has allowed in its last 13 games. Derrick Henry, one of the league’s best running backs, rumbled for 102 yards.

“I don’t think it was really anything that they did,” Smith said. “I think it’s more just about us, fixing what we got to fix technique-wise. You give credit where credit’s due — they’ve got a tremendous run game. But yeah, man, we do got to get stuff fixed.”

The Falcons will, however, take a few positives from Sunday night.

They wanted to improve their third-down efficiency and converted nine of 17 tries, including all four of their third-and-10 or longer scenarios. After his slow start, Penix found his rhythm and tossed several impressive passes. For the first time this season, Robinson, Pitts and receiver Drake London each stuffed the stat sheet. They scored their first defensive touchdown.

And perhaps most importantly, the Falcons — after a 68-minute scrap with a Ravens team likely headed for the postseason — feel they’re wired the right way to respond and get better.

“I think it’s a belief in what we are and what we are doing,” right guard Chris Lindstrom said, “and our identity.”