Falcons interim coach takes blame for Todd Gurley scoring late touchdown: 'I made a mistake'

It's rare that scoring a touchdown causes a team to lose a game but that's exactly what happened when Falcons running back Todd Gurley ran into the end zone late, giving the Detroit Lions time to drive down the field and win the game. While most have criticized Gurley for not stopping at the one-yard line to essentially end the game and seal the win, interim head coach Raheem Morris says the blame for the loss should fall on his shoulders.

"I said this before and I'll say it again, I feel like I made the mistake for putting Todd in that spot," Morris told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's a little harder probably than me and you think to stop from going in. Obviously, it is. ... I made a bad decision from the 10-yard line to give him the ball thinking he could stop before he got there."

Perhaps Morris is right that he should not have had the ball handed off to Gurley in that spot but still, it's hard to fault the head coach in this case. Gurley could have easily fallen down and clinched the Falcons' second win of the season. Instead, Atlanta continues to find increasingly bizarre and heartbreaking ways to give up leads and lose games that seemed like guaranteed wins.

The Falcons are a team loaded with talent but for whatever reason, they have failed to find any sort of rhythm this season and are looking more likely to land a top-10 draft pick than have any shot of making the postseason. If their season continues to be filled with disappointing losses, rumors will only grow that owner Arthur Blank is committed to a rebuild, which could include trading several star players on their roster.