NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the fourth Sunday in a row, the situation at the end of the game looked the same.
The Falcons took possession of the ball with 2:19 at their 13-yard line trailing by five points, the chance to end a messy day with triumph. In each of their three previous games, they had started possessions with two minutes or less remaining and a chance to either tie or take the lead.
In succession, they beat Houston, lost to Washington and beat Tampa Bay. Sunday, the Falcons dutifully maintained their pattern, this time losing to Tennessee by giving up four touchdown passes thrown by a rookie quarterback starting his first game.
With a chance to advance to 5-3 and stay alone atop the NFC South, the Falcons instead reverted to .500, their third time this season with an even record.
Undoubtedly, injuries raised the level of difficulty as the day wore on. The Falcons did not finish the game with three of their most important players after injuries – defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (knee), quarterback Desmond Ridder (concussion symptoms) and wide receiver Drake London (groin).
“Grady’s special,” defensive end Calais Campbell said. “He’s elite. He’s one of the best players in football one of the best d-lineman in the game. So definitely, it was one of those things where you want him out there. But we’ve got faith in everybody else.”
The Falcons were not, though, going to win the sympathy vote Sunday. The Titans were without starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill and during the week traded away two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard in what certainly looked like an indication that they aren’t harboring playoff aspirations this season.
Even having to make do with Taylor Heinicke at quarterback, LaCale London at defensive tackle (who himself went out briefly with his own injury) and an assortment of receivers in place of the team’s leading pass receiver, the Falcons did more than enough to invite defeat and embrace .500 once again.
Poor decision making by Mike Hughes and Keith Smith on punt and kickoff returns led to the Falcons starting seven of their 14 drives at their 15-yard line or worse.
Misplays in the secondary (and a questionable officiating decision) enabled the Titans to score touchdowns on pass plays of 61, 47 and 33 yards (as well as a 16-yarder). The Falcons defense had allowed two plays of 40 yards or more in its first seven games (plays of 40 and 45 yards).
Tennessee rookie quarterback Will Levis, making his starting debut, ripped through the Falcons by completing 19 of 29 passes for 238 yards and four touchdown passes with no interceptions.
The Titans’ 28 points and 375 yards of offense were both the most allowed this season by the Falcons, who had entered the game ranked third in the league in total defense (285.4 yards per game) and ninth in scoring (19.0 points per game).
The Falcons have nine games left. The remaining schedule shouldn’t scare anyone other than ticket vendors. There is plenty of time for this team to straighten out errors and string wins together.
But until that happens, it’s difficult to believe that the Falcons are any more than what they’ve shown, which is a team that clings to .500 like it’s a life preserver. The remaining schedule may be soft, but the Falcons nearly fumbled away a win against Tampa (now 3-4) last week and then did lose to a Titans team that was 2-4 before Sunday and a 2.5-point underdog in its own stadium.
There is plenty to recommend this team. Sunday’s results aside, the defense looks legitimately like a top-10 unit. Defensive tackle David Onyemata played another impactful game (four tackles, two quarterback hurries). The run game pounded out 140 yards, with running back Bijan Robinson leading with 62 yards and his first career rushing touchdown. Kicker Younghoe Koo has now made 16 of 17 field-goal tries.
But Ridder continues to be uneven, leading the offense to one score in his seven first-half possessions, and that drive began at the Tennessee 28-yard line and only netted a field goal. His deficiencies in pocket awareness contributed to his getting sacked five times in the first half. With the same offensive line and the same opponent, Heinicke was sacked once while attempting 21 passes, nine more than Ridder.
Ridder quashed the offense’s most promising drive of the half by getting stripped of the ball in the pocket, his 12th of the season and 10th in the past five games.
And Smith may have reached a decision-making point regarding Ridder. Smith cited concern for Ridder’s well-being as the reason for not playing him in the second half after he had been evaluated for a concussion and cleared.
If that’s actually the case, then kudos to Smith for his protectiveness. However, Falcons players who have cleared in-game concussion evaluations have routinely returned to the game, including Hughes on Sunday.
“I’m always going to be conservative,” Smith said. “Certain things, (we) trust our gut. I don’t think I’m a medical expert. I try to make (decisions based on) what’s best for our team at that moment as you’re mixing and matching, whether a guy goes back in or not.”
Maybe the explanation is that Ridder’s case was different. But, why would Smith be the one to make that call to trust his gut and keep Ridder on the bench despite his being cleared when, as Smith said repeatedly after the game, he’s not a medical expert?
And while Heinicke wasn’t Levis out there, he led the offense to 20 points and 253 yards in the second half. The point total was a team season high for a half and the yardage total was second-most. The offense didn’t turn the ball over and may well have gone on a last-minute touchdown drive if wide receiver Van Jefferson hadn’t dropped a pass from Heinicke on fourth down at the Falcons 22.
It might be excessive parsing, but Smith danced around questions about Ridder’s status as starter. When he was asked if he considered Ridder to be his starting quarterback, for instance, he gave the following answer when a simple “yes, I do” would have cleared up the matter completely.
“We just finished this game,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of confidence in Des. We didn’t take him out for performance issues. But that’s why Taylor’s here, to be able to come in as a backup and give us a shot to win.”
Besides Ridder, Jarrett’s health is also now a question mark. Jarrett’s pain threshold has been demonstrably high, so it was a concern that the two-time Pro Bowler did not return to the game Sunday. An MRI likely awaits for his knee injury.
Despite the loss, the Falcons ended the day in a tie for first with the Saints in the NFC South at 4-4. It may end up being that a record near .500 will be good enough to win the division. That’s good news for the Falcons, as, unless something changes, that looks like what they’re capable of.
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