Ryan believes he cost the Falcons the game

The Falcons had several blunders, botches and mishaps to help them kick away a 21-point halftime lead on Sunday.

But quarterback Matt Ryan, who threw a bizarre interception late in the third quarter, took the blame for the 22-21 defeat to the Detroit Lions.

“In my opinion, that kind of cost us the ball game,” Ryan said.

Ryan’s blunder was far from the only one.

There was the coaching decision to sit on the 21-0 lead after cornerback Robert Alford’s interception with 1:14 left in the second quarter.

Later, the defense was beaten for a 59-yard touchdown pass on third down-and-25 when safety Kemal Ishmael allowed Golden Tate to get behind him.

A holding penalty with 1:50 left stopped the clock when the team was trying to run it out.

Coach Mike Smith said it was his decision to run out the clock in the second quarter.

“We were up three scores and we did not want to turn the football over,” Smith said.

Ryan said he had no objection to the decision.

“I think with where we were at in that game, felt like we had a great first half,” Ryan said. “We were in the driver’s seat, had a lot of momentum going into the second half. I’m okay with that call.”

Wide receiver Julio Jones noted the team has decided to proceed otherwise in the past similar situations.

“We have in the past, with 50 some seconds left on the clock, we’ll go down there and get a field goal or possibly score,” Jones said. “But we didn’t. I think we were just conservative.”

And don’t tell Smith the team became complacent in the second half.

“I don’t think there was any complacency whatsoever,” Smith said. “We needed to come out and start fast in the second half of the ballgame and we didn’t. We had a three-and-out offensively.”

The Lions started to gain momentum after Ishmael’s blunder, which was similar to a 74-yard play the Bears had against the Falcons two weeks ago. Ryan tossed his interception on the next possession, a cross-field hurl picked off by cornerback Cassius Vaughn.

The interception led to a field goal early in the fourth and sawed the Falcons’ lead down to nine points. They were outscored 12-0 in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense did a great job of holding them to three,” Ryan said. “We were moving the ball offensively. Obviously, I moved to left, I was trying to throw the ball and I never saw (Vaughn). And that’s just a mistake that you cannot make in order to win football games. That one hurts.”

Did you say playoffs?: Ryan tried to remain upbeat when informed that no team has ever made the playoffs after starting 2-6 since the NFL went to 12-team playoff format in 1990.

“We’ve got to be the first one to do it,” Ryan said. “I think that’s got to be the mindset that we have to have.”

Emotional scar tissue: The Falcons have the bye week before playing at Tampa Bay.

“This is probably as tough a loss to take as any I’ve been a part of and (I) really feel like we had a lot of different chances to win that ballgame and consistently didn’t make plays when we needed to,” Ryan said. “You know, we’ve got to get back home. We’ve got to find a way to get better over the course of the bye week. And I think everybody needs to look in the mirror and self-critique and really, when we get back to work, have a great mindset and a great sense of focus.”

Home sweet home: The Falcons probably regret giving up a home game to play in the International Series now.

With the game on the line, Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford had no problems receiving calls from the sidelines during their final game-winning drive. He drove the Lions into field goal position over the final 1:38 with relative ease and no crowd noise from the neutral Wembley Stadium crowd.

“Well, coming into this game, this is a neutral field, so of course the crowd, you’re going to have some Lions fans as well as Falcons fans,” running back Steven Jackson said. “That is to be expected of a game on a neutral site, but I think for the most part, you have the ‘Rise Up’ flags, you had the crowd into it and they were definitely tuned into the game and aware of the situation.”

At one point, Falcons assistant head coach/wide receivers Terry Robiskie and several offensive players were waving their arms in the first half, trying to get the crowd up on a third down. At the Georgia Dome, that would not have been a problem.

“I thought it was a great experience,” Ryan said. “I really do. People here in the UK have been really, really nice, very accommodating, and I think the entire organization had a great trip, other than not getting the win today.”

Trufant's play: There was some question if Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant committed a penalty on the late two-point conversion attempt by the Lions. Intended receiver Golden Tate complained to the officials.

“My man went and picked Josh (Wilson) and my instincts told me to go and make a play,” Trufant said. “I know my man wasn’t getting the ball. I was just trying to make a play and sell out for the team.”

Home away from home: Gameday at Wembley was not at all like a game at the Georgia Dome, until you entered the stadium.

The American football fans stand out — they’re the ones wearing Falcons and Lions jerseys. Everyone else wears jerseys that hail from virtually every team in the NFL and from any time period. A young man walks past sporting a Bears jersey with “Hester” emblazoned on his back. Wait. Devin Hester is a Falcon now.

Perhaps the really old chestnut was the Falcons jersey with “Farve” on his back. Believe it or not.