The Atlanta Falcons failed to build on their momentum following a 27-23 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL preseason, as they sustained a 24-16 loss Monday night at the hands of the New York Jets. The Falcons played so poorly, particularly in the second half of the Jets game, that Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith felt he had to apologize to everyone who spent time to watch it all unfold.

Things actually started smoothly for the Falcons, with Marcus Mariota doing a fine job orchestrating the offense. Rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder also had his moments, but at least a couple of drives saw the Falcons shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly with a barrage of penalties. In Ridder's last drive of the game, the Falcons were tagged with five penalties. He was able to lead Atlanta's offense to the one-yard line but a penalty on a 4th-and-goal resulted instead in a field-goal attempt from Younghoe Koo.

All told, the Falcons accumulated a total of 13 penalties that went for 121 yards. No head coach would be happy about the kind of discipline Atlanta showed on the field against the Jets. The Falcons entered the halftime break on top, 16-3, but a disastrous second half wasted all their efforts. If anything, at least most of the players who played in the second half for the Falcons were second and third-stringers, many of which will likely not make the final roster cut.

Up ahead for the Falcons, who averaged just 5.4 penalties per game in 2021, is their final preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars this coming Saturday at home.