The Atlanta Falcons' issues on special teams were the primary reason they found themselves in such a hole and were unable to complete the late comeback against the Chicago Bears in Week 6, and special teams woes have been something that have plagued this team under the prior regime also.
The 31-23 loss saw Zachariah Branch cough up the football twice on special teams (once on a muffed punt and the other on a kickoff return) which set up the Bears with favorable field position twice and saw them come away with a combined 10 points on the drives right after his two fumbles.
The Falcons are going to remain steadfast in their belief in the rookie despite the toughest game of his NFL career to date. After the second fumble, Branch was understandably frustrated on the sideline, but Bijan Robinson was seen keeping his arm around Branch on the sideline where he was seen encouraging (and praying) with him.
That's elite leadership that'll help him keep his confidence up. But while talking to reporters after the game, Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski sent a message about Atlanta's faith in the third-round pick from Georgia, saying "he'll be better for this" and he's someone "we're going to be counting on".
"Zachariah is someone we're going to be counting on," Stefanski said. "He's a conscientious kid. He has to take care of the football. He has done a nice job (of that) up to date. He's a rookie,. He will learn from this... We're counting on him. He'll be better for this."
Our worst moments should not be what define us, but the way we respond to them should. So while fans on Twitter will be unforgiving and blame No. 17 for the loss, he deserves the benefit of the doubt to see how he'll respond since Bijan and Stefanski aren't done believing in him despite this roadblock.
Zachariah Branch deserves the benefit of the doubt despite his fumbles
Stefanski made a point that Falcons fans may forget about: Zachariah Branch is only a rookie, and rookies make rookie mistakes.
This was just the sixth game of his NFL career, and there are always going to be growing pains on the path to becoming more comfortable in this league. He has just seven offensive touches through five games, and getting him more involved on offense is still a point of emphasis for this staff.
Sometimes you have to stumble and face adversity so you can get better because of it. And yeah, two fumbles aren't ideal, especially given the end result, but if the Dirty Birds aren't ready to send him to the bench, why should we be so quick to count the 22-year-old out? There is still potential here.
Let's also look at what he did afterward. On 3rd-and-7 on the potential game-tying drive, Michael Penix Jr. found him for a nine-yard gain--though it was called back due to a holding on Bijan Robinson. He still caught both of his targets and is pushing Olamide Zaccheus for more work as the WR3.
The Falcons drafted Zachariah Branch with the 79th overall pick not just to be their starting slot receiver, but to be their return man of the future. So while this performance is far from encouraging, you have to take the good with the bad and treat this as a wake-up call for a promising young kid.
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