The Atlanta Falcons certainly have an NFL brand. That brand was on display again during Sunday's 34-30 loss to the Washington Football Team.

The Falcons were ahead 30-22 with under five minutes to go before allowing the Washington to score two touchdowns in the final four minutes on their way to stealing the victory. It was a typical Falcons meltdown.

There was a questionable two-point conversion attempt by the Falcons with over 11 minutes left in the third quarter, during which Atlanta had a chance to take a 24-19 lead but went for two and led by just four instead. The Falcons were outscored 21-13 in the second half by Washington, including giving up a 101-yard kick return for touchdown to open the third quarter. All of these things are extremely on brand for the franchise that made its name blowing a 25-point second-half lead in Super Bowl LI.

This came into play as the Falcons should have been ahead 31-22 inside of five minutes instead of 30-22, which is a one possession game obviously. Perhaps it would have never mattered, but the Falcons lost by four points and were on the cusp of field goal range before they were forced to throw a ‘Hail Mary' pass towards the end zone from inside the Washington 40-yard line as time expired.

The game-sealing play for Washington was a wild throwback screen, and the Falcons defense melted in typical fashion letting J.D. McKissic scamper down the sideline and across the goal line for the lead. Notice the social team for Washington trolling Atlanta with the “Ludacris” reference.

Matt Ryan was 25-of-42 for 283 yards and four touchdowns, but his efforts weren't enough. The offense was unable to mount a drive and take the remaining time off the clock after the Falcons' defense stopped Washington on a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game at 30 with 3:52 to play.

The Falcons made a habit of losing games like this under previous head coach Dan Quinn, with the Super Bowl LI “28-3” collapse to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots being the most infamous loss in not only the Falcons history but perhaps in NFL history as well. Atlanta also blew several leads last season, with the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys both overcoming double-digit deficits in the first four weeks of the 2020 season. Quinn was fired midseason following the collapses.

Arthur Smith, who has drawn criticism for his conservative play calling at times early this season, perhaps made his biggest mistake going for that two-point conversion early in the third quarter. That was a Quinn-esque move, and it backfired in similar fashion to many of Quinn's suspect decisions over the years as Atlanta coach.

For what it's worth, the Falcons offense did look pretty good. Nonetheless, it is just the conservative play calling in a two-point game inside the five-minute mark when the punter was out of the game injured that left Washington with plenty of time to mount a game-winning drive after a three-and-out took just two minutes off the clock. This is a bad look for a first-time head coach who calls his own plays.

The Falcons will play the New York Jets (also 1-3), who got their first win of the season Sunday versus the Tennessee Titans, in London next week. If Atlanta leads by eight points in the fourth quarter, no one should feel safe.