The Atlanta Falcons made one of the more inconceivable mistakes in Sunday’s 40-39 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. And now, it has owner Arthur Blank publicly contradicting head coach Dan Quinn.
With the Falcons up two points, the Cowboys were forced to attempt an onside kick to keep their comeback hopes alive. Given the new onside kick rules, Greg Zuerlein went with an unconventional, slow-rolling attempt. And all the Falcons had to do was pick up the ball to ice the game.
Instead, the Falcons let the ball roll 10 yards, and Dallas recovered (and went on to win the game). From the replay, it appeared that the Falcons players didn’t know the rules and incorrectly thought they had to let the ball travel 10 yards.
This is legitimately one of the craziest onside kick mistakes I’ve ever seen in the #NFL. pic.twitter.com/bYk1qoqK7Z
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) September 20, 2020
Blank certainly saw it that way. He said in an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio, via AJC.com:
“Some other parts have not been good. Clearly our defense is not playing at the level we want to see it play at. And clearly on the last play of the game yesterday our players, you know, didn’t do what they, you know, either what they were instructed to do and they didn’t understand it, or, it’s clear though they didn’t, in my view, they didn’t clearly understand what the rules were and exactly what they had to do. I think that’s demonstrated when you watch the video of it.”
This came after Quinn had already said that the Falcons knew the onside kick rules and blamed the mishap on blocking assignments. Via AJC.com:
“Well, I think they definitely know. The front three are usually blocking as they’re going and the high bouncers go to the second side. So, the front line, generally on an onside kick, they’re looking to get a block first and the high hop goes to the next player.
“When that instance happens and it’s not one that’s a high hopper, then you just transfer in and you go to your ball, but you’re looking at your assignment first of who you have to go block – certainly the ball and then your assignment. They definitely know the rule.”
But when the ball is RIGHT THERE, you have to pick it up. A well-coached team would know to pick up the ball in that situation. The Falcons clearly didn’t.
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