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On a night in which they celebrated their owner, the Atlanta Falcons fittingly appeared to be in line to earn their biggest win since 2017. Perhaps even more fittingly, however, questionable play-calling deprived Arthur Blank, his team, and the city a chance to see it come to fruition. Elation turned to bitter disappointment, as fans watched the Kansas City Chiefs snatch a victory from Kirk Cousins and company.
Though, some would say that the Falcons gave it away themselves. Following a controversial officiating n0-call that denied the team a golden opportunity to take the lead late in the game, Atlanta benefited from some penalties on its final drive and marched right back into KC territory. With the end zone in sight and just over one minute left in the game, first-year offensive coordinator Zac Robinson had two downs to gain one yard and extend the action.
Backup running back Tyler Allgeier charged up the middle but fell short of the line to gain, and lead back Bijan Robinson was brought down by linebacker Nick Bolton on fourth down after confusingly rushing sideways. The Chiefs spoiled Blank's big day and escaped Mercedes Benz-Stadium with a 22-17 win.
The Dirty Birds struggled to comprehend their squad's decision-making process, particularly on the final play, fearing that they had been transported back to the recent past.
Falcons fans are not over the Arthur Smith Era
“Zac Robinson decided to turn into Arthur Smith with the game on the line,” one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter. “The spirit of Arthur Smith lives in the Falcons still,” another said. Former Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith is now the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he is still incurring the wrath of the city that mercifully begged for his departure.
Smith garnered plenty of praise for his OC work with the Ryan Tannehill-led Tennessee Titans and is seemingly getting the most out of Justin Fields in the early stages of this season, but his Falcons tenure was met with considerable ridicule. Many specifically took issue with how he managed his running backs.
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The new offensive coordinator's decision to not have Bijan Robinson run the ball up the gut on fourth-and-inches incited people to resharpen their pitchforks and, oddly enough, aim them right back at Smith. “Did Arthur Smith sneak back on the Falcons staff for that final sequence?” one individual joked. “Love it!!! Falcons fired Arthur Smith just to get the exact same thing!!!! Never change Arthur Blank and Rich McKay!!!!” chimed in another.
The fan base is obviously still recovering from the offensive woes that afflicted the franchise for the last three years.
Is there any justification for the puzzling play calls vs. Chiefs?
Tyler Allgeier averaged 4.6 yards per carry as opposed to the measly 1.9 Bijan Robinson mustered on Sunday, but it was still surprising to see the No. 2 RB get the hand-off on third down. It was more baffling to make Robinson's job harder by having him run laterally.
A dilapidated offensive line, which lost its starting center and right tackle during the game, made things less straightforward, but there were more accessible routes Zac Robinson could have taken in such a critical situation. Atlanta could have startled Kansas City with a pass or opted to bring in rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. for a sneak (since the team is clearly being cautious with Kirk Cousins' Achilles).
Smith cannot be held accountable for the team's missteps any longer. The Falcons (1-2) must quickly learn from their mistakes and clean things up for a divisional face-off with the New Orleans Saints in Week 4.
