Falcons Get Explanation on Overturned Darnell Mooney Touchdown

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Falcons had a chance to finish the first half of Sunday’s Week 14 game against the Seattle Seahawks with a statement. Instead, it ended with just another missed opportunity that has haunted this team in 2025. 

The Falcons were nearing the red zone, with the game tied at three and just over a minute to play in the second quarter. They were facing 3rd-and-5, but Kirk Cousins went for it all. He dropped back and connected with wide receiver Darnell Mooney down the left sideline. The wideout appeared to score, but instead of a touchdown, they were hit with an incomplete pass. 

Atlanta was confused as to what happened in the moment, but head coach Raheem Morris wanted the play to be reviewed, or even had a flag thrown on this play. 

“My explanation was I thought it should have been a call on the play,” Morris said after the game about what the officiating crew told him. “Potentially, you get a call on the play, re-establish yourself, catch the ball, and it should have been a touchdown. They explained to me that they didn't see it that way.

“Whatever the case may be, it's not a touchdown. It is what it is. You go with what the official said at that moment. We'll figure out what the right decision was moving forward.”

What happens next for the Atlanta Falcons? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Falcons news delivered to your inbox daily!

What happened? Head referee Alex Kemp was able to provide an explanation to that question. 

"We ruled that he did not re-establish himself back in bounds, that he went out on his own," he said via a pool report. "He was not forced out."

To re-establish himself in bounds, Kemp said that Mooney would have needed to get two feet or a body part down in bounds.

“If he had and would have been the first to touch, it would have been a foul for illegal touching of a pass,” Kemp finished. “The penalty enforcement for that would be the exact same as an incomplete pass. It's a loss of down at the previous spot. Had we ruled what we ruled or the other way, the result of the play would have been the exact same thing.”

Instead of a seven-point exclamation point to end the half, they settled for three points that would soon be matched on Seattle’s ensuing possession. They would go to the locker room tied at six, only to have the game flipped on its head on the first play of the second half. 

The touchdown likely would not have been nearly enough to change the outcome of this game, but it could have impacted how the game unfolded in the second half. We will never know. 

Instead, the Falcons would fall to the Seahawks 37-9.