After falling to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7, the Atlanta Falcons wanted to make a statement against the 1-6 Miami Dolphins in Week 8. They did anything but, losing 34-10 and dropping to 3-4 on the season.
The Falcons were without starting quarterback Michael Penix, which clearly affected their offense. However, the Dolphins hadn't scored 30 points all season, showing it was a rough performance on all fronts. Head coach Raheem Morris didn't mince words after the loss, via team reporter Terrin Waack.
“Tough day obviously at the office,” Morris said. “Sundays, man, you can be humbled. Today was one of those days.”
The Falcons gained just 213 total yards of offense. They had more penalty yards (76) than rushing yards (45) as backup Kirk Cousins threw for 173 scoreless yards. On the flip side, the Dolphins gained 338 yards of offense as Tua Tagovailoa threw for four touchdowns.
One area Atlanta truly struggled was on third downs, going two-for-11. Morris didn't shy away from the miscues but knows the Falcons' problems were much larger in Week 8, via Wack.
“Not very good,” Morris said of their third down conversion rate. “We were not good in a lot of aspects of football today.”
However, if there's one thing Morris knows, it's that the Falcons locker room won't disintegrate. It's still early in the season and the Falcons can still compete for a playoff spot. It may have been an ugly loss, but it'll take more to tear apart Atlanta, via Wack.
“That's the easy part,” Morris said. “For us, these guy are together. The locker room will stay together. They will stay bonded.”
Still, the Falcons have now lost two straight games which could heighten emotions. They'll look to get back on track against the Patriots in week 9.
