Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Falcons' latest loss fuels reputation as the NFL's leading chokers

By Cory Woodroof | Last updated Sep 13, 2022 3:41 PM ET

Like a fish takes to water and a dog takes to chasing a frisbee, the Atlanta Falcons take to squandering late leads.

In Sunday's 27-26 loss to the New Orleans Saints, the team gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter after leading 23-10.

The Falcons aren't strangers to statistically improbable losses, having lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI after leading 28-3. Memes about the loss persist.

The odds for the Falcons latest flop were astronomical.

some teams are already in midseason form pic.twitter.com/2yOQWcOzXc
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 11, 2022

It's hard to gauge what's in the water in Atlanta that's causing these leads to wither away. The team looked marginally improved from 2021 for three quarters.

Even before Sunday, the Falcons were stacking blown lead on top of blown lead, as shown in this collage below.

The Falcons lost all of these games pic.twitter.com/c4z3Y1muUy
— Jukedly on Instagram ⚡️ (@JukedlyIG) July 11, 2021

Until the Falcons tighten their belts in the fourth quarter and hold a lead, their reputation of being the NFL's leading chokers will persist.

Falcons fans aren't taking the loss well. Check out this tweet on the loss, represented by the use of the recent Chris Pine/Don't Worry Darling Venice news conference meme.

When the Atlanta Falcons blow yet another enormous lead pic.twitter.com/kWYiZG4f0g
— Jason Kirk (@thejasonkirk) September 11, 2022

Cory Woodroof

Cory Woodroof is a longtime journalist that lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He has covered the Atlanta Falcons for the past five years for SB Nation's The Falcoholic and yearly for Athlon's NFL preview edition. He has also covered sports at all levels for the Nashville Post

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