The Falcons had no answers for the Broncos Sunday, allowing 400 yards of offense, five touchdowns and a field goal en route to their 38-6 blowout loss in Denver.
“Got our butts kicked today,” said coach Raheem Morris to start off his postgame press conference. “The whole game was about physicality and effort, and they out physicaled and out efforted us today. We talked about that early in the game, what it takes, and it’s being your very best when the best is required and we were not that today.”
Broncos’ rookie quarterback Bo Nix had a field day, going 28-for-33 passing with 307 yards passing and four touchdowns for the day. Part of what allowed him to do that is the Falcons’ lackluster pass rush.
The Falcons rank 29th in the NFL in pressure rateafter Sunday’s game at 17.8%. Their number of sacks on the season is even worse at 32nd in the league with only 10 sacks through 11 games.
“We didn’t execute nearly well enough on defense to give us a chance to win this game,” safety Justin Simmons said . “This team has to be able to win on the road, and that starts with the defense and setting our offense up on a short field. We just couldn’t do that today and that showed on the field.”
Falcons’ quarterback Kirk Cousinsfinished 18-of-27 passing with 173 yards and an interception. It’s the first time in his career he’s gone consecutive games without a passing touchdown.
“It’s disappointing,” said Cousins postgame. “We got to go back and fix what wasn’t good enough, and make sure we’re playing our best football (in) the last six regular season games to end up where we want to be.”
Running back Bijan Robinson finished with 12 carries for 35 yards, an average of just 2.9 yards per carry. He didn’t have much chance to run in the second half as the Broncos’ lead grew, leading to a more pass-focused offensive gameplan for the Falcons.
Injuries for the Falcons during the game included receiver Darnell Mooney, who has been a big contributor for them thus far. He exited the game with a hamstring injury in the third quarter, though was listed as questionable to return rather than out.
The Falcons still sit at number one in the NFC South standings after their big loss. Their 6-5 record puts them a game-and-a-half ahead of the second-place Buccaneers, 4-6, who are coming off a bye week as the Falcons head into theirs.
“We need to go back and reflect (during) the bye (week), get healthy, and come back out ready to play,” said Morris. “No one game will ever define you. I know this team’s gonna bounce back. This is a tough day for (us) but this organization is built on tough people.”
The Falcons next game will be on Dec. 1 when they host the Los Angeles Chargers in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
