The 2017 season hasn’t gone the way the Atlanta Falcons have wanted since coming off of a near-Super Bowl win (or a tragic loss, of course). Julio Jones, normally as sure of a thing as you can get at the wide receiver position, dropped a certain touchdown.
On a fourth-and-8, Matt Ryan wound up and chucked a pass to a wide-open Jones. There wasn’t a man in his vicinity.
Then this happened:
Ryan, like just about any quarterback in the NFL not named Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, take the bulk of the blame when things go wrong with their team.
But that’s one that Jones has to come down with. It would have trimmed the Panthers’ lead to 20-17. Instead, it was a turnover on downs and the Panthers had the ball near midfield.
The defender on the play knew he was lucky that Jones slipped up:
Mike Adams says Julio Jones being that open was “totally on me. He dropped it, which is unusual, but I’ll take it.”
— Max Henson (@PanthersMax) November 5, 2017
Luckily for the Falcons, they were able to force the Panthers to punt on the ensuing drive. But that’s a big miss for Atlanta.