It is about time I feel good to say that I am an Atlanta Falcons football fan. If you do not know anything about football, let me answer some potential questions as to why I would be ashamed to support my favorite team.
The Falcons are always front and center at the biggest blunders in NFL history and I might even push it to just sports history in general. Atlanta, on the biggest stage at the Super Bowl in 2016, blew a 25 point lead with less than four minutes to go against the New England Patriots. It has haunted me since. I am not even kidding when I say I get genuine war flashbacks whenever I hear the phrase “28-3.” One of, if not the worst day of my life in terms of sports.
On top of that, the whole 2020-21 season was filled with these chokejobs. The Falcons blew six ten-point games in that season. If Atlanta just held on to their leads they would have had 10+ wins and a great season. But no, they decided to blow every single opportunity they had and went 4-12 to finish fourth in the entire NFL.
I am 20 years young; I have been watching football for over 10 years now and the Falcons have had three winning seasons since I have been watching them. It has been rough.
Week 1 of this year’s NFL season did not make me feel good about the Falcons. The quarterback, Kirk Cousins, looked like he was 80 years old in the backfield and barely moved his legs. The Pittsburgh Steelers did not even score a touchdown against the Falcons and they still found a way to win with a lackluster offense. The Falcons were a projected playoff team heading into the season. The Steelers, on the other hand, were not. Pittsburgh still has a good team, do not get me wrong, but this should have been a feel-good win to start the season.
Now why am I saying that I feel good to be a Falcons fan? It is because Atlanta had an electric game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 16 on Monday Night Football. Cousins looked a lot better than the week before, actually maneuvering the pocket and finding the open man. Bijan Robinson tore the house down, in my opinion outperforming the Eagles star running back, Saquon Barkley. But it all came down to the final drives of both teams that really made this game an all-time classic.
The Eagles had the ball deep in Falcons territory and were up three with less than two minutes left in the game. It was third down, Atlanta had no timeouts and all Philadelphia needed to do was get a few yards and they would win it. Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore took the questionable approach of passing the ball instead of running it to at least churn more clock off and it absolutely failed. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts dropped back to pass, saw Barkley in the flat and Saquon dropped the ball. The Eagles kicked the field goal (again, questionable decision) and were up 21-15.
It was all up to Cousins and he delivered on the Falcons drive; he picked apart the Eagles defense and brought Atlanta in scoring position in mere seconds. Cousins found wide receiver Drake London at the goal line and suddenly the Falcons were winning this game 22-21. Hurts subsequently threw an interception on the following drive and the Atlanta Falcons pulled off the upset.
This game is no joke the best moment I have had when it comes to the Falcons in well over seven years and I will cherish it until the next one.
