The Falcoholic
The Falcons continue with another NFC matchup this week, as they play host to the Washington Commanders, formerly known as the Redskins and then Football Team. This has been a very unfavorable matchup for the Birds, as Washington owns the all time head to head lead 19-10-1.
There’s been a bookend of Washington dominance in their all time history against Atlanta, as they went 5-0-1 in the first six games and are 4-0 in the last four meetings. Outside of that bookend, each team has won exactly 10 games against one another.
The Falcons actually had a recent run of success where they never lost against their opponents from the nation’s capital. Between 1994 and 2018 they lost just once and won seven times. In the Matt Ryan era, it felt like the Birds really had their number.
The scales have been tipped back into the Commanders’ favor, however, with those four consecutive victories, one in each of the past four years.
There was a lot on the line when the 8-7 Falcons traveled to the capital for a Sunday Night Football showdown with the 10-5 Commanders, who were exceeding all expectations in Year 1 of Dan Quinn, led by soon to be Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels.
Back to back wins along with a Tampa slip up meant Atlanta was in control of its own destiny and would win the NFC South if they were to just win two more games in succession, starting with this one. Both teams traded first quarter touchdowns before the Falcons’ defense went to work, shutting Washington down on three straight drives throughout the rest of the half as the offense took a 17-7 lead into the break.
Right when the defense looked like they had forced a 3-and-out to begin the second half, DeAngelo Malone committed one of the dumbest penalties you’ll ever see with an illegal contact which gifted a first down on what was a 3rd-and-22 play. Washington wound up scoring a touchdown on that drive and taking full momentum.
A Falcons 3-and-out followed by another painfully long touchdown drive led by Jayden Daniels and the game was officially flipped on its head with the Commanders leading 21-17. Michael Penix fought back, down seven, and hit Kyle Pitts in the end zone on a 4th-and-goal late in the fourth quarter, before the defense quickly got the ball back with 40 seconds remaining in the game.
On that final drive, head coach Raheem Morris forgot how to call a timeout, and the result was Atlanta gaining much less field positioning than what they could have, as Riley Patterson’s potential game winning 56-yard field goal was dead middle but didn’t have the leg. In overtime, Washington won the coin toss and scored a touchdown on a drive which lasted over seven minutes.
