Falcons show fight in fierce comeback against Rams, but face tough path after 0-2 start

If the Atlanta Falcons are going to make the playoffs this year, they’re going to have to make history to do it.

Since the NFL expanded the playoff field two wild-card entrants to three in each conference in 2020, there have been 18 teams that have started 0-2 — and not one has made the postseason.

The Falcons and the Carolina Panthers are the lone NFC teams who have dropped both their games this season.

But both could easily be 2-0.

In Week 1, the Falcons squandered a 26-10 lead in the final 12:41 when Will Lutz’ 51-yard field goal with 19 seconds left lifted the New Orleans Saints to a 27-26 win.

In Week 2, the Falcons’ rally from a 28-3 deficit with less than four minutes remaining in the third quarter almost produced the largest comeback in franchise history.

Marcus Mariota, however, was intercepted by Jalen Ramsey in the end zone with a little over a minute remaining, essentially sealing the Falcons’ 31-27 loss.

“Obviously it wasn’t perfect and we need to break through, but one thing about our guys, no matter what has happened, we have a chance until the last play to win it,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “Obviously we didn’t make enough plays, but the game playing gave us enough and the guys kept grinding out.”

The Panthers also are no stranger to close losses. They lost their season opener, 26-24, when Cleveland’s Cade York hit a 58-yard field goal with eight seconds left, before the Giants beat Carolina by a field goal, 19-16, on Sunday.

Still, the Falcons’ situation is the most perplexing.

Against the Saints, Mariota fumbled away a possession in the red zone last week when he was stripped trying for extra yards in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he fumbled the snap on a play designed for him to run for a game-securing play late in the fourth quarter.

This week, Mariota threw an interception in the end zone when he tried to hit Bryan Edwards, who he had thrown to just once all game and was covered by Ramsey, one of the league’s best cornerbacks.

“That’s on me, I’ve got to do a better job of communicating that across the board,” said Mariota, who was 17 of 26 for 196 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. “I think, kind of throughout the game, I could have done a better job operationally and just communicating with the guys so that everybody’s on the same page.”

Same page? Mariota was on the same page as first-round pick Drake London all game, just as the two of them were in the season opener.

Mariota threw 26 passes on Sunday and 12 — nearly 50 percent of them — were to London, who had eight receptions for 86 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion.

Against the Saints, London was targeted seven times and finished with five receptions for 74 yards.

So in two games, London has caught 13 of the 19 passes thrown to him for 160 yards. By comparison, Kyle Pitts, who is coming off one of the best rookie seasons for a tight end in NFL history last year, has been targeted 10 times and has four catches for 36 yards.

And Edwards, who was the target for the potentially game-winning touchdown pass? He’s caught two of the three passes thrown to him for a total of two yards this season.

London’s start has made him the first rookie since Stefon Diggs in 2015 to have at least five receptions for at least 70 yards in each of his first two games.

“It’s not fantasy football,” Smith said. “We’re just trying to win.”

And make no mistake — had the Falcons pulled it out against the defending Super Bowl champions, it would have been one of the biggest regular-season wins in franchise history.

The Rams (1-1) led 28-3 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter before the Falcons later scored 22 points in span of 13:23 to pull to within 31-25 after Lorenzo Carter returned a punt blocked by Troy Andersen 26 yards for a touchdown with 4:57 left in the game.

The Falcons got the ball back after Darren Hall forced and recovered Cooper Kupp’s fumble on the Rams’ 37-yard line with 3:22 remaining. But Ramsey intercepted Mariota in the end zone with just over a minute remaining.

The Rams took an intentional safety with six seconds left and punted the ball out of bounds, giving the Falcons the ball at the 50-yard line.

However, Mariota was sacked and fumbled, with Aaron Donald making the recovery as time expired.

The Rams appeared to take control of the game when Matthew Stafford capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half with a 10-yard touchdown strike to Kupp that pushed the lead to 28-3 with 9:22 left in the third quarter.

Mariota responded by capping a five-play, 20-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to London to make 28-10 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

Matt Gay’s 20-yard field goal extended the Rams’ lead to 31-10 with 12:13 left in the game.

Then things got wild.

After Mariota pulled the Falcons to within 31-17 with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus with 8:14 left in the game, the Falcons’ special teams made it a one score game.

Andersen blocked Riley Dixon’s punt, with Carter returning it for a touchdown to make it 31-25 after Mariota hit London for the two-point conversion with 4:57 left.

It was the first time the Falcons returned a block punt for a touchdown since Bobby Butler did it in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers at Fulton County Stadium in 1990.

Still, Smith has liked what’s he’s seen from Mariota, who signed as a free agent this offseason after backing up Derek Carr in Las Vegas for the past two seasons.

“He made enough plays,” Smith said. “He gave us a chance.”

Mariota’s next chance comes Sunday, when the Falcons travel across the country again, this time to face the Seattle Seahawks (1-1).

“This team is never going to quit,” Falcons linebacker Mykal Walker said. “We dug ourselves into a hole early. We fought back. We climbed and crawled back. This team is not going to quit.”

“We are sitting at 0-2, so we’re not going to feel the best, but at the end of the day we know what we are capable of. We’ve shown flashes of what we can be. We are all excited.”