Following the Falcons stunning loss to the Lions, offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was asked if the team practices falling down at the 1-yard line in order not to score and take time off the clock.
“Maybe instead of not scoring, the thing you practice is getting the ball where your kicker wants it and taking a knee,” Koetter said on Wednesday. “That’s the alternative there. That’s what you practice.”
The Falcons asked running back Todd Gurley to fall down at the 1-yard line against the Lions on Sunday toset up a game-winning field goal. Instead Gurley went into the end zone for a touchdown. The Lions, with no timeouts but 1:04 left on the clock, scored a touchdown on the final play for a come-from-behind 23-22 win.
Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris has accepted the blame for the botched ending.
“I said this before and I’ll say it again, I feel like I made the mistake for putting Todd in that spot,” Morris said. "It’s a little harder probably than me and you think to stop from going in. Obviously, it is. ... I made a bad decision from the 10-yard line to give him the ball thinking he could stop before he got there.
“Probably should have put the ball in Matt Ryan’s hands and took the knee, like I said before. That’s probably the biggest regret from the game. … I know I’ve said that clearly to (the media). I’ve said it clearly to the team. Moving forward, we won’t make that mistake again.”
Falcons' next four games
Falcons at Panthers at 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29
Broncos at Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8
Bye Week
Falcons at Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22
Las Vegas Raiders at Falcons at 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 29
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