Morris admits TO in 4th could’ve helped Falcons

LANDOVER, Md. — Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris said calling a timeout on a key first-down catch late in the fourth quarter of a tie game Sunday night “could have” been a better decision than running a hurry-up play.

The Falcons ended up having to settle for a 56-yard field goal attempt from Riley Patterson, who is only in his second week with the team. Patterson’s kick with 2 seconds left came up short, the game went to overtime and the Commanders won, 30-24, on a walkoff Jayden Daniels 2-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz.

“In hindsight, it could have been a good decision or a better decision to take that timeout, but I wanted to have the opportunity to move up there,” Morris said. “You always second-guess those things, you can always second-guess those motives. You can always go back and look at it and see if you can get it snapped a little bit quicker.”

On the Falcons’ final drive in regulation, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. connected with wide receiver Darnell Mooney for a 25-yard first down to the Falcons 44-yard line with around 34 seconds left. Rather than opting for the timeout — and Atlanta had two left — Morris kept the clock running. On the next play, Penix threw an incomplete pass to Mooney with 17 seconds left.

Morris said he “probably could have” stopped the clock after the Penix completion to Mooney, but was hoping to “save that timeout.”

“I thought we could get to the line of scrimmage and run our operation a little faster there,” Morris said.

Penix then threw incomplete to wide receiver Drake London and Mooney, around a Washington Commanders penalty, and Patterson missed the lengthy kick. Patterson’s career long was 53 yards. He’s been with the Falcons since Week 16 when Younghoe Koo went on injured reserve with a hip injury.

“You can say, we can call a timeout right there, but you can say I catch the ball, go down the sideline and go score,” Mooney said. “Either way. Whenever something negative happens, you look back and be like, ‘Oh, we should have hit this.’ You can just have a negative with any situation.”

Penix said the players will always “lean on” what Morris decides in those situations.

“He calls the timeout whenever he feels fit and he trusted us to get a play off and make the next play,” Penix said. “So, we all trust Coach’s judgment on that.”

With the loss, the Falcons fall to 8-8 and now need help to get into the playoffs. If the Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers next week and the New Orleans Saints beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then the Falcons would win the NFC South and earn a postseason home game. However, if they lose to the Panthers or the Bucs beat the Saints, the Falcons’ season is over.

“We put ourselves in the situation,” Falcons veteran defensive lineman Grady Jarrett said. “We was this close to controlling our destiny and we let it slip. And that’s the reality of it. We got to let it hurt. We got to let it burn.”