Falcons Rocky Mountain Low: A Disappointing Loss in…

The Atlanta Falcons stunk. They stunk immediately, they stunk going into and coming out of halftime, they stunk down the stretch. There’s no way to defend the effort or the results in this game, as both were awful beyond my ability to describe.

We braced ourselves for a loss given that the Denver Broncos have been playing good football and the Falcons had a nightmare injury list, but even given that, things went poorly. The Falcons fell behind early and the points kept coming for Denver with zero answers. The offense looked overmatched and Kirk Cousins looked tepid again, the defense lost Kevin King early and looked completely out of sorts and incapable of sniffing out screens and short passes they pride themselves on stopping, and special teams allowed multiple big returns. The Broncos looked well-coached and confident; the Falcons looked poorly prepared and bewildered throughout.

The Falcons lost a little ground in the NFC South with the Buccaneers idling and the Saints winning again, and their bye week is beyond necessary for this team to get healthy and try to figure out what the hell is going on. But with back-to-back embarrassing losses, Atlanta suddenly looks like a team in dangerous of blowing a significant divisional lead, the kind of result that just can’t happen with the Falcons pushing some chips into the middle of the table in pursuit of a playoff berth in 2024. They have to come out of the break playing far better football, or a team that has trafficked in misery for six seasons running is going to make it a seventh straight.

Here’s the full drive-by-drive recap, which I honestly don’t recommend reading.

1st Quarter

The Falcons kicked things off by…kicking it off, with Bradley Pinion drilling it out of the back of the end zone. Javonte Williams got the first carry and got a yard, with Kaden Elliss getting the quick tackle. Bo Nix then hesitated on second down and threw it too low for Williams. Nix then evaded pressure and found an open Courtland Sutton for a first down. Williams then ran for close to ten yards and a first down before Kevin King got him. Five yards for Williams followed, and then Jaleel McLaughlin was tripped after a very short gain and brought back by a holding call on Denver. Nix then got Devaughn Vele for 14, and a fullback handoff picked up a yard. Another throw to Vele was close to a first down, but Richie Grant was nailed with an unnecessary roughness penalty. Nix then found a wide open Nate Adkins for one of the easiest touchdowns you’ll see. Broncos 7, Falcons 0.

Touchback. Bijan Robinson picked up three yards by slipping through contact a bit. A quick swing pass to Robinson then went for a first down after he shook off the first defender. Bijan then took it nine yards. Robinson was then stuffed for no gain before Bijan worked his way forward for a yard and a first down. Ray-Ray McCloud then made a nice grab in traffic over the middle or nine yards. McCloud then got a yard on a swing pass for a first down. Then Cousins hit Ross Dwelley for maybe six yards, before finding London over the middle for 16 yards. Robinson then took it about five yards after fighting through contact, and then rolled it close to the end zone before a holding call on Matthew Bergeron backed the Falcons up. Then Cousins hit London over the middle to get down to the one yard line, but London had an illegal motion call to back things up. A swing pass to Tyler Allgeier on 2nd and 20 went nowhere, and then a quick pass to Bijan went for a couple of yards to set up a field goal try for Younghoe Koo from 41 yards out. The kick was dicey, but he got it to make it Broncos 7, Falcons 3.

Touchback, and Kevin King was in the locker room being evaluated for a concussion. Audric Estime went absolutely nowhere on first down. Grant came flying in for a tackle on Estime, stopping a swing pass for a two yard loss, but a hold backed the Broncos up further. Grant got another tackle on a swing pass to force a punt on the next play. Avery Williams then took the punt return over 10 yards, but a DeAngelo Malone penalty backed them up to the 16 yard line.

2nd Quarter

Cousins took a shot to Darnell Mooney, but tight coverage made it impossible for him to make the catch. Cousins then threw one into the dirt looking for London. Cousins then hit Robinson for a first down to the sideline. An off-kilter snap was fumbled, and Cousins just had to pick up on it and try to run for a loss of seven yards. Cousins then was sacked for another loss of about seven yards. Robinson just ran it for about four or five yards. Punt, and Pinion punted it 57 yards with Marvin Mims bringing it back five yards.

McLaughlin took it a couple of yards before Elliss got the tackle. A quick pass from Nix to Williams went for a first down. Lil’Jordan Humphrey got a couple of yards on a screen after Arnold Ebiketie sniffed it out. A quick run went for a yard on second down, and then a false start backed Denver up five yards. Then Nix found a wide open Marvin Mims for 37 yards before Zach Harrison hit Mims in the backfield for a loss of five. A screen to Williams then went for 16 yards and a first down. Nix then found Sutton for six yards. The Broncos then handed it off to Williams, who got a big push from his team after getting stalled by Falcons defenders to get in for a touchdown. 14-3, Broncos.

Touchback. Robinson got a yard on first down, and then Cousins hit Mooney just shy of a first down. Robinson then took the carry and came up short of the first down. The Falcons stayed on the field and went for it, and with good protection, Cousins stood in there and hit London over the middle for 26 yards and a first down. Robinson then took it three or four yards. Cousins then missed London on the sideline with pressure closing in. On third down, he looked for Pitts but was a little behind him and coverage was close. Younghoe Koo then drilled the 51 yarder to make it 14-6 Broncos.

Another touchback. Nix then had to scramble up the middle and got three yards before Elliss tackled him. Nix then found Vele on a dart over the middle over two Falcons for a big gain. Nix threw it away under pressure on the next play, with Khalid Kareem and Elliss closing in. Sutton picked up six yards before Grant took him down. Sutton then picked up a first down on a short pass. A short pass to Troy Franklin went for eight yards after he evaded a couple of tackles. Williams then took it for three yards and a first down. On the next play, Matthew Judon bullied Mike McGlinchey into the backfield and Nix actually tripped over his lineman, losing about 12 yards. The Broncos got seven yards with a quick pass to Sutton. A screen to Mims went for a touchdown. 21-6, Broncos.

Touchback. Cousins hit Mooney for a sideline first down, but he was tackled before he could get out of bounds. A quick spike left 10 seconds. Cousins then hit London on the sideline, but he couldn’t get out of bounds. End of the half.

3rd Quarter

Two missed passes and a short pass to McCloud where he was tackled around five yards. Punt, and Marvin Mims took it a mile to set the Broncos up with great field position.

A quick five yard gain on the ground, and then two yards on second down. Jessie Bates hit Adam Trautman and knocked it loose. The Broncos tried to draw the Falcons offsides and had to use a timeout, but they came back out on offense and Humphrey dropped it. Turnover on downs…except for some reason, the crew reversed the call and called it a catch and recovered fumble. Williams then picked up a first down, and a designed keeper for Nix went for three or four yards. Nix was under pressure and threw it into the ground after Natrone Brooks almost got him. Vele then caught one for a first down. A quick fullback throw was blown up by Elliss. Troy Franklin then caught it for a touchdown. 28-6 Broncos.

Touchback. Cousins hit Kyle Pitts for nine yards on first down. Cousins then wildly overthrew Pitts on second down. Then Cousins hit KhaDarel Hodge at the line of scrimmage, and he put two defenders in the dirt en route to 18 yards. Then Cousins threw an interception to Cody Barton.

Natrone Brooks nearly picked the first down pass, but on second down, a short pass went for nine yards. A challenge gave Estime the first down. Estime then went airborne for a first down on a short pass from Nix, but an unnecessary roughness call on the Broncos backed them up 15 yards. Estime then got a couple of yards. A quick pass over the middle picked up eight yards and Bates delivered a big hit. A third down pass to Estime was stopped cleanly by Nate Landman. Punt.

Bijan took it five yards. Then Cousins tried London over the middle on second down and couldn’t quite connect. Cousins, in trouble from a weird-looking play and an off-kilter snap, managed to connect with Pitts but saw offsetting penalties. Fortunately, the 15 yard facemask bailed the Falcons out and got them big yardage. Bijan picked up a yard or two, and an offsides penalty backed the Falcons up five yards. A screen to McCloud went for seven yards. Then Cousins was sacked by Jonah Elliss, and the Falcons punted.

Nix avoided pressure, rolled out, and found Sutton for a 23 yard gain working against A.J. Terrell. Five yards on first down, and then a jet sweep to Mims picked up a first down.

4th Quarter

A quick hitter to Williams went for four yards. Estime was then hit for no gain. Pressure was in Nix’s face immediately, and he threw it Humphrey for no real gain. Will Lutz hit the 45 yard field goal to make it 31-6 Broncos.

A false start made it 1st and 15, and then McCloud took a short screen about five yards. Robinson took the dumpoff for a loss of a yard or two. Cousins was sacked again on third down. Punt, and Mims took it over ten yards.

Williams then took it about six yards. McLaughlin then got eight yards and a first down. A wide open Lil’Jordan Humphrey then went 41 yards basically untouched for a touchdown. 38-6 Broncos.

Michael Penix entered the game, and immediately hit McCloud over the middle for about 15 yards. Penix then bombed it down the sideline to Casey Washington, who couldn’t quite come up with it and was injured on the play. Jase McClellan then took it eight yards. Another give to McClellan went nowhere. On fourth down, the offense stayed on the field, with Penix finding Hodge for a first down. Penix then had to scramble and didn’t get much. McClellan got the handoff and lost yardage on the play. Penix then double clutched under pressure and threw it away on a play where Atlanta also had an ineligible man downfield. Punt.

Estime took it about three yards. Estime then took it about five yards. A second push on a fullback carry got the Broncos close, but they punted.

McClellan got a couple of yards, and then followed that up with a seven yard carry. McClellan then got the first down up the middle. McClellan then picked up four yards, and then was hit in the backfield for no gain. That was game.