Frustration Mounts as Falcons Lose Heartbreaker to Patriots, 24-23

FOXBOROUGH, MA – The Atlanta Falcons can feel their season slipping away after a third-straight loss as they hit the middle of their season. Atlanta fell in a heartbreaking finish, 24-23, in New England against the Patriots after a missed Parker Romo extra point. 

The frustration in the locker room after this game was palpable. 

“Terrible. I do not feel good,” Drake London, who turned in a career performance in the loss, said after the game. “We just lost the game.” 

The fourth-year wide receiver reeled in nine of his 14 targets for 118 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday. The performance marked the first hat-trick and the second multi-touchdown game of his career. He accounted for 53% of quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s 221 passing yards. 

London did not care whatsoever about his individual performance. 

“It’s a loss, so it’s going to hurt regardless,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I had one catch or no catches or anything. It’s a loss, so I don’t care about any personal stats or any bulls*** like that.” 

London was one of several tremendous individual performances that the Falcons had in this game. Rookie Jalon Walker, who returned in Week 9 after a two-game absence due to a groin injury, recorded the first multi-sack game of his career. He also had his first-career forced fumble. 

The rookie echoed London’s frustrations after the game, saying his personal performance does not matter if they did not win the game. 

"Just those minute details," Jalon Walker said about what held them back in the loss. "Just gotta clean up on those little things. It's a great league. We play against professional athletes. So, those things they'll capitalize on."

He had a point. The Falcons showed their potential, but failures on third down, both on offense and defense, cost the Falcons a chance to snap their losing streak.

Atlanta converted just one of their 10 third-down conversions (10%) in the loss, while the Patriots converted eight of their 12 (67%). Four of those conversions came from 3-and-7 or longer. 

Numbers like that will rarely be enough to win a game at the highest level. 

Despite their struggles, the Falcons rallied from a 21-7 deficit, outscoring the Patriots 16-3 over the final 30 minutes and 11 seconds of the game, but came just short of the upset win. 

“[I’m] just really frustrated,” left tackle Jake Matthews said. “I thought we battled back and had a chance to win it. Didn’t get it done, so [I’m] frustrated.” 

The Falcons had the individual performances to get the job done on Sunday. 

Bijan Robinson surpassed 90 scrimmage yards for the 26th time in his career, while London put on his Superman cape down the stretch. Defensively, the Falcons had three players (Brandon Dorlus, LaCale London, and Jalon Walker) with two or more sacks for the first time since 2025, and only the second time in franchise history. 

All that, but they came up short. 

“We are going to continue to focus on the good, work on the stuff we need to get better at,” safety and team captain Jessie Bates III said after the game. It is still a long season. You never know what will happen. We’ve got nine or ten weeks left. We’ll see what happens and go to Germany and try and take care of business.”

Now, they will be tasked with snapping a three-game losing streak against another one of the NFL’s best teams next Sunday. Up next for the Falcons is a trip across the Atlantic to take on another top-flight AFC opponent with the 7-2 Indianapolis Colts. 

Kickoff in Berlin is set for 9:30 at Olympiastadion as a part of the NFL’s multi-year commitment to playing games in Germany. This will be the first game in NFL history to take place in Berlin, and the Falcons will have their backs against the wall in this matchup. 

“Hard to put it into words,” Matthews finished. “But just frustrating after fighting our way back into it today.”