It felt like all the misses on extra-point tries was going to come back to bite Washington.
The Football Team missed PATs on each of its first three touchdowns and trailed the Falcons most of the game. When Washington scored a touchdown with 3:52 trailing 30-22, the two-point try was no good and Atlanta had the ball back leading 30-28.
But the Falcons have become experts at blowing leads, and they did so once again on Sunday. Atlanta went three and out, and Taylor Heinicke responded by leading Washington on a seven-play, 76-yard drive, capped off with a wild 30-yard touchdown pass-and-run by J.D. McKissic — and a subsequent miss on the 2-point try — to win the game 34-30.
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Even when the Falcons had the chance to march back, they stumbled. Matt Ryan scrambled up to the Washington 37-yard line, but defensive tackle Daron Payne took his time getting off Ryan after the tackle and the Atlanta offense struggled to line up as the clock was ticking down. Ryan was able to spike the ball, but the Hail Mary attempt fell short.
It was the second game-winning drive by Heinicke in five starts and the latest blown lead by the Falcons.
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The Falcons had taken the lead on a touchdown with 11:09 left in the third on a TD pass to Cordarrelle Patterson that brought the score to 23-19. Washington kicked a field goal on its next drive, and the Falcons responded with a touchdown drive at the start of the fourth to make it a 28-20 game.
The two teams traded punts when Washington took over possession with 9:59 remaining. Washington marched down the field in 10 plays, capped off with an incredible pass and catch from Heinicke, as he was being tackled, and wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who had to shake a defender in the end zone to bring in the pass.
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— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) October 3, 2021
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The Falcons weren't able to do much to keep the ball out of Washington's hands. Mike Davis rushed for a loss of three, rushed for four and caught a pass for five before the two-minute warning, and the Falcons had to send it back to Washington after the warning.
After an incompletion, Heinicke hit DeAndre Carter for a 24-yard pass. He had another incompletion, then found Adam Humphries with a 19-yard gain. A short pass to McKissic and a rush by McKissic moved the offense up the field a net three yards.
Atlanta used its second timeout, Heinicke was chased out of the pocket and looked close to being sacked, but McKissic waved him over in the middle of the field. Heinicke dumped it off to his running back, who ran outside and dashed down the right sideline into the end zone for the 30-yard touchdown. A review confirmed the call and Washington took the 34-30 lead.
