Falcons run out of time to control their path to the playoffs after mismanaging the clock

LANDOVER, Md. — Raheem Morris and the Atlanta Falcons left five timeouts unused, and they may have an extended chance to linger over those mistakes.

The Falcons have run out of time to control their own path to the playoffs after mismanaging the clock multiple times in a 30-24 overtime loss to the Washington Commanders. They needed a victory to set up a win-and-get-in situation in the regular-season finale, and now Tampa Bay is in the driver's seat for the NFC South title.

Morris declined to use all three of his timeouts at the end of the first half before settling for a field goal. He had two left in the waning minutes of regulation before Riley Patterson tried a 56-yard field goal attempt with two seconds left that fell short.

The first-year coach acknowledged he “probably could have” taken one after Michael Penix Jr. connected with Darnell Mooney on a 25-yard completion with 40 seconds left. Instead, the clock wound down to 17 seconds because he was “trying to save that timeout.”

“In hindsight, it could have been a better decision to take that timeout, but I wanted to have the opportunity to move up there so you can always second guess those things,' Morris said after his team's defeat that punched the Commanders' ticket to the playoffs. "Can always second-guess those motives. Can always go back and look at it to see if you could have snapped it a little quicker. But I really believe we can get our operation time a little faster and to save that timeout."

Questionable coaching came back to bit the Falcons, including a near-total abandonment of the running game that was picking Washington apart for much of the first half. Bijan Robinson had 13 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns until there was one minute left before halftime, and he was handed the ball just four more times for 8 yards the rest of the way.

Penix, the rookie quarterback taken with the eighth pick and making his second NFL start, pointed to a three-and-out in the third quarter as the culprit behind Atlanta becoming unbalanced. The Commanders had the ball for 12:53 and the Falcons for just 2:07 in the third.

“We didn’t really have the ball much," said Penix, who was 19 of 35 for 223 yards, a touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts and an interception. “I believe we ran three plays. We just got to sustain drives. We can’t go three-and-out. Our mindset each and every time we step on the field is to get points. Whenever we have the opportunity based on that, it could have made us go one way or the other passing or running the ball.”

The Falcons had the chance to go up 21-7 instead of 17-7 at halftime, though Morris defended his strategy as a way to not leave Jayden Daniels and Co. the chance to get the ball back: "Took the field goal. Got out of dodge.”

Penix deferred to Morris on when to use timeouts.

“That’s on Coach Raheem,” Penix said. “He calls the timeouts whenever he feels fit. He trusted in us to get the plays off and make the next play. We all trust coach’s judgement on that, so that’s what we are going to lean on.”

The Falcons must now lean on New Orleans to beat Tampa Bay. After five losses in seven games, they need that and a victory against Carolina to reach the playoffs.