The Falcons forced a Patriots punt while trailing 24-23 with 3:30 left in Sunday’s game, but an intentional grounding penalty on quarterback Michael Penix helped keep them from driving for a go-ahead score.
The penalty came on a second-and-10 near midfield when Penix received a snap earlier than he expected and immediately threw the ball to the ground short of the line of scrimmage. After the game, Penix said he was trying to throw it near tight end Kyle Pitts and that center Ryan Neuzil told him that the Patriots simulated the snap count ahead of the early snap.
“Yeah, supposedly. Supposedly they were clapping,” Penix said, via a transcript from the Patriots. “For us, whenever I’m clapping, that means I want the ball. I knew [Neuzil] said he heard them clapping, and he thought it was my clap, and he snapped the ball. I threw the ball in KP’s direction. He had just released on a route. I thought I was going to be okay with the grounding part. Obviously that wasn’t the case.”
Head coach Raheem Morris had the same view of what happened on the play.
“They did a nice job. They simulated a snap,” Morris said. “The ball came early, was snapped early. Within that snap, that was when we got the intentional grounding. Nice job by those guys. Great situational football. Great play. Got to snap the ball. That’s why the ball was snapped early on Mike. He wasn’t ready for the snap.”
Defenses found to be simulating snap counts are subject to a 15-yard penalty for sending “disconcerting signals,” but they can be difficult to discern inside a noisy stadium. If that’s what happened on Sunday, it was a bad break for the Falcons.
Parker Romo got his job as the Falcons’ kicker after Younghoe Koo missed a crucial kick in Week 1, but Romo might have jeopardized his future in Atlanta on Sunday.
Wide receiver Drake London’s third touchdown catch of the day cut the Patriots’ lead to 24-23 with 4:40 left to play and the Falcons just needed Romo to make an extra point to tie the score. Romo, who spent time with the Patriots during training camp, missed the kick and the Falcons were left with more work to do.
Their defense did its part when Jalon Walker batted down a third down pass to force a punt. Bijan Robinson ran for a first down and Michael Penix hit London for another, but the quarterback threw a pair of incompletions to slow things down. The second came right after he took a snap in shotgun and Penix was flagged for intentional grounding to push the Falcons back ahead of a punt.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had two turnovers and had not moved the ball well after the Patriots took a 21-7 lead in the first half, but he came up with the play the Patriots needed to ice the game. He hit tight end Hunter Henry for 17 yards on third down and the Patriots were able to take a knee from there.
The win is the sixth in a row for the Patriots and it assures they will remain in first place in the AFC East regardless of what happens when the Bills host the Chiefs later on Sunday. The 7-2 club will move on to a road game against the Buccaneers in Week 10 and they’ll look for a cleaner outing from both their quarterback and their pass protection. Maye was sacked six times, including a Walker sack that led to a fumble the Falcons turned into a touchdown late in the first half.
The Falcons have now lost three straight games and they’ll try to stop the bleeding in Germany against the Colts next Sunday. Having London in the lineup will be a plus to that effort and figuring out how to get Bijan Robinson going in the run game would be another big step in the right direction for the 3-5 Falcons.
The Patriots had the ball in Falcons territory with a chance to extend their lead before halftime in New England, but the Falcons’ two first-round picks came up with a big play to swing things their team’s way.
Jalon Walker stripped Patriots quarterback Drake Maye of the ball on a sack and his fellow edge rusher James Pearce returned the ball to the New England 6-yard-line. Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell chased Pearce down, but his effort wound up being for naught when Michael Penix and Drake London connected for their second touchdown pass of the game.
That cut New England’s lead to 21-14 at the half and Maye will have a chance to atone after the Patriots receive the opening kickoff of the second half.
Maye was 11-of-15 for 173 yards and two touchdowns before his miscue and he’s also been sacked three times. Rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson has seven carries for 30 yards and three catches for 31 yards while starting in place of the injured Rhamondre Stevenson.
London has five catches for 35 yards after missing last Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins and Penix is 13-of-18 for 108 yards.
The Falcons saw left guard Matthew Bergeron leave with an ankle injury and edge rusher Leonard Floyd hobbled off with a hamstring injury. They are called questionable to return along with Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte. He also hurt his hamstring.
Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs made the 900th catch of his NFL career a memorable one.
Diggs took a short pass from quarterback Drake Maye and avoided Falcons tacklers before diving into the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. The score put the Patriots up 21-7 with over five minutes left to play in the first half.
Diggs is the 28th player in history with 900 career catches.
It was Maye’s second touchdown pass of the day. The first went to Pop Douglas and the wideout had a 58-yard catch on a deep ball from Maye to set up Diggs’ touchdown.
The Patriots will get the ball to start the second half, so it would be a good time for the Falcons to put together a lengthy scoring drive.
The Falcons are happy to have quarterback Michael Penix and wide receiver Drake London back in the lineup this Sunday.
London went up to get a Penix pass in the end zone and maintained control of it while getting his feet down for a touchdown in New England. The score made it 7-7 with 24 seconds left to play in the first quarter.
London had a 16-yard grab earlier in the drive and Penix was 4-of-4 after a Jamal Agnew punt return set them up near midfield.
It was a welcome change for the Falcons offense after a pair of punts to open the game. They were able to force one of their own after giving up an early touchdown and they’ll be looking for more of the same from their defense the rest of the way.
