The Atlanta Falcons' 19 penalties last Thursday night against the Buccaneers were not only a franchise record, but an indictment of Raheem Morris' coaching. Every football fan knows that mass penalties and loss of yardage typically spark disaster, and the Falcons shouldn't have won.
Defensive penalties specifically killed the Falcons and consistently put the Bucs in scoring position. And on Thursday Night Football, the main culprit was star cornerback A.J. Terrell. The veteran out of Clemson has been terrible the last two weeks, and added five more penalties to his resume last week.
Morris knows the problem, too, and this week is crucial in negating these mistakes and returning to form. Ironically, despite their record-setting performance on Thursday Night Football, the Falcons rank in the middle of the pack in penalties this season. Atlanta is 14th in penalties per game this season, but ranks dead last across the last three games.
Morris: You're not supposed to win a football game when you get that many penalties. #Falcons
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) December 15, 2025
Just a few weeks ago, against the Jets, the Falcons accrued just one penalty, which was a pass interference call on Terrell. His stock has plummeted this season after signing a massive extension that went into effect this season.
A.J. Terrell is the root of the Falcons' ongoing penalty problem
According to Pro Football Focus, Terrell's 51.3 PFF grade has ranked him the 98th best cornerback qualified corners, yikes.
Yes, the 26-year-old has been terrible this season, but the penalties are a team-wide problem. Without him, the Falcons still committed 14 atrocious penalties. Moving forward, it's easy to say just work on not committing penalties, but what does that even mean?
And it looks even worse when you consider that after holding his team accountable all week, Raheem Morris publicly blamed Mike Evans' ability to create contact (which is the nice term for flopping) for many of the penalties against Terrell.
Raheem Morris after Atlanta had 19 penalties Thursday night: "Mike Evans does an amazing job of being able to create contact and get a little bit of an acting job to it and be able to get some of those calls called." https://t.co/uvRYrIB7lv
— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) December 18, 2025
For starters, maybe don't have Terrell line up against an elite receiver, but that's difficult. The Falcons' secondary depth is completely depleted, and Terrell is almost all they have left. Against the Cardinals in Week 16, Terrell will match up against either Marvin Harrison Jr or Michael Wilson.
It seems like Harrison is in line to make his return to the lineup this week, which is far from encouraging. And given Terrell has committed nine holding or pass interference penalties this season, but committed just two all of last year, it could be a long afternoon in Glendale.
With Harrison's lanky frame, another couple of penalties may be en route if these two match up. Regardless of Terrell's impact, Morris has some work to do to fix this glaring problem.
Let's hope Week 16 was a blip on the radar, but Falcons' fans know many terrible themes have overtaken a once-promising season, and this could be another.