Dwight Freeney is standing in the stunned quiet of the locker room. The questions from media types are heavy with the history of knowing about the bad mojo that has infected the Falcons for so long.
Perhaps sensing this, Freeney projects the reassuring demeanor of a wise sage who has seen it all over 15 NFL seasons. His career includes a Super Bowl ring and is likely to put him in the Hall of Fame. Freeney is credible, and what he’s saying makes sense.
“The world is not over,” Freeney says more than once, and it’s not.
The Falcons (7-5) lost to the Chiefs on Sunday and the Buccaneers (7-5) later beat the Chargers. But the Falcons still will be NFC South champs if they win their final four games.
“You’ve got to get over it and move on,” Freeney says.
But the issue is the way the Falcons lost to the Chiefs. And here Freeney concedes that, no, he's never seen that before.
“It was strange. I will give y’all that,” Freeney said, smiling. “I’ve never been in a situation where you are up, everybody is happy, 28-27. Next thing you know, two-point conversion ran all the way back and now it flips. First time in my career I’ve been a part of it.
“It’s part of the game, and that’s what happens. You have ups and downs.”
That’s when I realized that Feeney may be an old pro, but he’s new to the Falcons. That bizarreness at the Georgia Dome isn’t something that usually happens. But it is something that happens to the Falcons, whose few “ups” always have been overshadowed by the extravagant nature and inevitable feel of their “downs.”
The Chiefs became the first team in history to win a game on a "pick-two" play. The NFL changed the rules in 2015 to allow the defense to return the ball for two points on two-point plays, and so of course the Falcons are the first team to cough up a lead and lose that way.
Matt Ryan couldn't throw regular, unfortunate-but-not-game-losing interceptions. No, his two picks just had to be especially damaging. And of course they came in the midst of an MVP-caliber season by the best quarterback the franchise has ever had.
Eric Berry couldn’t just snag those interceptions, run a few yards and get tackled. If Albert Wilson had gained a couple of yards and converted a first down on that fake punt, it would have been bad but not devastating for the Falcons.
But of course Wilson burst through a giant hole in the line, shook Eric Weems and ran to the end zone for a touchdown. And of course Berry tight-roped down the sideline for a touchdown on his first pick, and pretty much jogged 99 yards for two points on the second—it was an non-timed down so, officially and appropriately, the Falcons led for zero seconds.
Berry is a former Creekside High School standout and Wilson starred at Georgia State. Those may seem like details in a fictional story line created specifically to torment Falcons backers, but surely it’s all just coincidence.
These were the things I contemplated as Freeney— cheery in the immediate aftermath while many of his teammates seemed dejected—tried to calm the waters.
"I've been in all situations," he said but, again, he'd never been in that situation. "In the moment, it's like, 'Woe is me.' Head down. Step back, there is a long year to go. We have four games left. We could win them all and end up 11-5, and everybody will be happy."
The Falcons realistically could do that. I’d say the Falcons should be favored to win each of their final four games: at Rams, vs. 49ers, at Panthers and vs. Saints.
The 49ers and Rams are plain bad. The Panthers, strange as it sounds, aren’t very good. The Saints always have a chance as long as they have Drew Brees but they also have a terrible defense.
Certainly those teams are capable of beating the Falcons. But, glass half-full, the Falcons lost by a point in the final moments to a good Chiefs team. That’s with Ryan giving away nine points, the special teams blundering and the defense getting gashed early before settling.
“This is a very disappointing loss,” Freeney said. “Who wants to lose at home, especially in December? You don’t want to do that. But this will give us an opportunity to get back, figure out what is going on and fix these problems. It’s about fixing these problems in December and getting momentum going into January.”
That’s what it would be about for a normal NFL contender, but these are the Falcons. What if their problem is that they are the Falcons?
Rationally, that makes less sense than what Freeney said. But he’s new to the Falcons. Give it enough time and he, like those of us who’ve been around, might start to wonder.
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