ATLANTA - Let's see if the Atlanta Falcons can put another nightmarish loss behind them.
The franchise that infamously squandered a 25-point second-half advantage at Super Bowl LI in February 2017 in Houston - eventually losing 34-28 in overtime to the New England Patriots - was back in the Lone Star State last Sunday and had another Texas-sized collapse. The Falcons blew a 20-point lead to the Dallas Cowboys, giving up an onside kick in head-scratching fashion to set up a winning field goal on the final play at AT&T Stadium.
The 40-39 stunner dropped Atlanta to 0-2 for the first time since 2007 and turned up the heat even higher on coach Dan Quinn in his sixth season, especially after team owner Arthur Blank said it looked as though the players on the field for the Falcons didn't know the onside kick rules.
Quinn urged his players to turn their attention to the next game against the Chicago Bears, who visit Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, but he conceded it wouldn't be easy to get over such a disappointing outcome.
"You have to recognize the emotion," Quinn said. "Yeah, you're (upset). We have to put it into another space, but it's important to acknowledge why you're so (upset). That's the life of a competitor. It's hard, but you have to get past mad, you have to get past frustrated if you're going to have the season you want."
AP photo by Nam Y. Huh / Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has helped the team to a 2-0 start with unpolished victories against the Detroit Lions and the New York Giants.The Bears have a shot at their first 3-0 start since 2013, though they've hardly dazzled in their first two games. In the opener, Chicago rallied from 17 points down to beat the Detroit Lions 27-23. Last weekend, the Bears nearly blew a 17-point lead of their own, hanging on for a 17-13 win over the New York Giants.
"You're always happy about the win, but not too happy because we haven't played a full game together," Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky said. "We know what we're capable of if we do play four quarters, so that's got to be the goal."
The Falcons would like to second that sentiment. They appeared to be cruising at Dallas, taking advantage of three early turnovers on the way to a 29-10 halftime lead.
Despite a rally by the Cowboys, the Falcons were up 39-24 with five minutes to go, but the defense couldn't hold, giving up a pair of touchdowns that gave Dallas hope. Even then, the Cowboys still had to pull off an onside kick recovery - a real longshot given NFL rule changes that were designed to improve player safety.
The Falcons backed away from the spinning ball, though, simply watching until it had carried 10 yards. That allowed the Cowboys to make the recovery and win the game, turning Atlanta into the sort of national laughingstock that brought back memories of the Super Bowl meltdown.
Quinn insisted his players understood the rules but were simply befuddled by the strange kick.
"Arthur and I can disagree on how we talk about it, but what we 100% agree on is that it shouldn't have happened," the coach said. "We've got to work to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Atanta special teams coach Ben Kotwica said he's never seen an onside kick quite like the one Greg Zuerlein - who made the 46-yarder to win - pulled off after placing the ball flat on the ground, sans tee, before executing the slow roller.
Several Atlanta players - including receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, safety Sharrod Neasman and tight end Hayden Hurst - watched as if mesmerized by the spinning ball's unusual path. Cowboys cornerback C.J. Goodwin made the recovery just as the kick reached the required 10 yards, and it appeared the Falcons didn't know they didn't have to let the ball get that far before recovering it.
Kotwica said Thursday his players knew the rule but also understood the dangers of trying to recover a kick that did not appear certain to travel at least 10 yards.
"Our players knew they could go into the restraining area and recover the ball," Kotwica said. "But they also knew that if they went into the restraining area to recover the spinning football, there's a risk if they didn't recover it cleanly, that gives the kicking team the opportunity to recover the ball because then it becomes a live ball."
Kotwica said from his sideline view, "initially, I didn't think it was going to go 10 yards."
Despite the uncertainty about the kick's path, the bottom line was the Falcons couldn't afford to be spectators on the field with the game on the line.
"We should have aggressively gotten on the football," said Kotwica, who is in his second season in Atlanta after five seasons in Washington. "I'm responsible for it. I'm responsible for everything the unit does and fails to do. It's something we've looked at. We've made the corrections and talked to the players, and we'll do a better job."