Getty Matt Ryan #32 hands off to Todd Gurley #21 of the Atlanta Falcons.
Are we surprised the Atlanta Falcons found a way to lose by scoring a touchdown? Not at all. Though Todd Gurley didn’t mean to keep going and his teammate actually warned him.
In this video of Matt Ryan mic’d up against the Lions in Week 7, the Falcons’ QB gave Gurley some pretty clear instructions.
“Don’t score. Don’t score.”
“Get the first. Get down.”
Matt Ryan’s instructions were clear.
NFL Films released the footage from their loss at home, and you can hear Ryan telling Gurley, “Don’t score.”
Gurley appeared to be on the same page as Ryan too, but it didn’t end that way.
“I was mad as hell,” Gurley told reporters after the game. “I was trying not to, my momentum took me in. It’s kind of crazy, the last time I played Detroit, I went down and this time I end up scoring. It’s like, what goes around comes around.”
Falcons Should Have Taken A Knee
Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris was well aware he should have had Ryan take a knee and wished he did make that call.
The Falcons were trailing the Lions just by 16-14. If Atlanta ran down the clock, they could have set themselves up for a potential game-winning field goal. Instead, Morris called the play to let Gurley run the ball. When he scored too early, that gave the Lions defense time to get their last-second touchdown in to win 23-22.
The Falcons, somehow and some way, keep coming up with new ways to lose. Earlier this fall against the Cowboys, some special teams players stood and watched an onside kick spin around and around instead of jumping on it. Naturally, Dallas beat them by one, 40-39.
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Morris Wants to Be More Than an Interim
Obviously, losing to the Lions wasn’t how Morris wanted the day to go considering he’s on a mission for Atlanta’s open head coaching job. Even after the loss, Morris showed some good head coaching characteristics by owning up to his mistakes instead of blaming the players.
“My biggest regret today,” Morris said. “I wanted to give the ball to Todd and let him take the knee. I made that decision. I don’t want to put that on Todd.”
Morris knew he could be in danger of a forced fumble which is why put the ball in a “sure running back’s hands.”
“That was the mistake I made,” Morris told local reporters. “I don’t want to put that on Todd. He got some momentum going and most great athletes will tell you that’s hard to stop.”
At the end of the game, Gurley addressed how mad he was and blamed himself. But, Morris was adamant it’s his own fault and he didn’t want Gurley to feel responsible.
“When I get a chance to see him I’m going to let him know, put that on me,” Morris said. “I should have put the ball in Matt Ryan’s hands. … No excuses about it. I’ll take that right to the face.”
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