The Atlanta Falcons Have Nothing to Apologize for

The Atlanta Falcons made a great escape from Ford Field with a victory and their undefeated record in tact. There has been much discussion about the very controversial ending to the game, where Lions WR Golden Tate was ruled down short of the goal line and a 10-second runoff gave Atlanta the win. The Falcons deservedly won this game. It doesn’t matter how much the Lions want to blame the refs.

Other than the national anthem protests, the major story of this past 24-hour news-cycle in the sports world has been centered around what transpired on the final play of the game in a thriller between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions.

On 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford thew a quick slant to wide receiver Golden Tate, who looked like he got into the end zone for the game winning touchdown with 8 seconds left in the game.

Upon further review however, it was ruled that his knee had hit the ground before the ball broke the plain, and that Atlanta cornerback Brian Poole touched him down in that moment. Because the clock was stopped due to the touchdown call which was now reversed, it was dictated that a 10-second runoff had to be enforced. Because only 8 seconds were left and Detroit had no timeouts to combat the runoff, they lost the game.

Let’s begin by looking at the actual play. The Lions can hardly claim that the refs got the call wrong upon further review, as Tate’s knee clearly hit the ground while he was being touched down before the ball crossed the plain.

Now the issue becomes the clock. Had the ref initially (correctly) called Tate down, the clock would have kept running since he was ruled down in the field of play. It’s a question of logistics at this point: would Detroit have been able to line up in a legal formation and snap the ball within the next 8 seconds? The Lions’ twitter account certainly seems to think so.

Case closed I guess, the Lions were obviously going to line up and run the final play for sure within the allocated 8-second window, right? Not exactly. While it may not be fully apples to oranges, the comparison of this play against the Vikings’ one isn’t exactly apples to apples either.

For one, Stafford and the Lions were completely expecting to be downed in the field of play against Minnesota, there was no hesitation to run up, line up, and spike the ball. Nobody expected Tate to be short of the goal line in Sunday’s game, making things a bit murkier. Even the slightest bit of hesitation on anyone’s part in Detroit’s offense would have resulted in failure to line up in time.

Let’s also not forget about the fact that the Lions ran up and spiked the ball against Minnesota, they had no such option against Atlanta as they were facing 4th-and-goal. The enforcement of the 10-second runoff was the right call to make. Without the runoff, Detroit would have essentially had a free timeout and clock stoppage because the refs made the incorrect call on the field.

At the end of the day, this is the play which will be dissected and remembered. But no matter how much people want to point the finger at the officials, the Detroit Lions have nobody but themselves to blame for this loss.

The Atlanta Falcons did everything they could to give the Lions this win. They were minus-three in the turnover category, after Matt Ryan threw three interceptions: one which was even taken went back for a touchdown, and two which caromed off the hands of Falcons receivers. Through Week 3 this season, teams with a minus-three turnover difference are 1-9; the Falcons on Sunday were that one win.

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Even beyond the three interceptions, Detroit was very fortunate to even be in the position they were in on that final drive. Stafford threw an interception on 2nd-and-30 in Falcons’ territory which was negated by a foolish holding penalty on the other side of the field by cornerback Desmond Trufant.

I know what you’re thinking: Trufant did hold on the play, and it was the correct call for Walt Coleman and his crew to make, looking at the letter of the law. This is true, but I’m highlighting that play as another example of the Falcons beating themselves.

The incorrect call made by Walt Coleman came four plays later when Desmond Trufant was flagged for a pass interference on Detroit’s Marvin Jones in the endzone to set up a 1st-and-goal from Atlanta’s 1-yard-line, as opposed to a 4th-and-10 from Atlanta’s 19.

While Trufant once again did interfere with Jones, this time the ball ended up being thrown well out of bounds and should have been deemed uncatchable. The rule states that pass interference can’t be called when the pass is uncatchable. It’s funny how his play gets ignored by the fans who were screaming for justice after the game.

With 19 seconds left, the Lions had 1st-and-goal at the 1, essentially four throws to get one yard and the win. On first and second down, Stafford threw incomplete passes to running back Theo Riddick and receiver Kenny Golladay respectively. On third down, the Golden Tate play happened.

Detroit could have done one simple thing to completely avoid the entire runoff situation — they could have thrown the ball in the end zone. The cardinal sin to commit in the scenario they were in is to get downed in the field of play, whether by sack or by being tackled down without scoring. The Lions committed that sin on Sunday and they were punished for it. In reality, the Falcons’ defense committed one heck of a goal line stand, holding Detroit to less than one yard on three plays.

Atlanta out gained the Lions 428-324 in total net yards, held them to 3-of-13 on third downs, and thoroughly outclassed Detroit at Ford Field.

The Falcons have nothing to apologize for after the way that game in Detroit ended. They beat a team they were better than away from home.

Next: Falcons-Lions: One Positive, One Negative from a wild win

In the end, the Lions’ twitter account can complain all it wants, and the Detroit fans can scream that their team got cheated (they didn’t) all they want. But like Atlanta learned in Seattle last season (in a situation which was much more heinous than the one Detroit suffered), none of it really matters. The Falcons shot themselves in the foot and still managed to escape from Ford Field as the last remaining undefeated team in the NFC.