Three weeks into the season, the Atlanta Falcons had an opportunity to show they were becoming a stronger team in the NFL.
However, as has happened before with this struggling franchise, they let it slip away.
After an unexpected win against Philadelphia, the Falcons allowed the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to escape with a 22-17 victory in a prime-time game on Sunday.
In the final minutes, Atlanta (1-2) made two long drives that reached inside the Chiefs’ 15-yard line, putting them in position for a winning touchdown.
But both times, they failed to convert on fourth down. “You feel like you snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said.
“There’s plenty I can point to that wasn’t good enough to win this game, but still felt like it was right there for us to win and when you don’t do it, it leaves you with a pretty sickening feeling.”
As a franchise that has been around for 58 years without winning a Super Bowl and is stuck in a stretch of six consecutive losing seasons—its worst since the 1980s—such missed opportunities are hard to take.
“We have to figure out ways to be a better football team and be an ascending football team that plays complementary football off of each other,” Cousins said. “I certainly feel like we have the pieces we need to be successful, but there’s obviously more out there to go get to play better and be able to win more consistently.”
