How in the world did the 2016 Falcons blow a 27-10 lead to the 5-11 Chargers?

[Falcons Fan MVP 3,744]

I never saw this game but one regular season game that really ticked me off in 2016 was the 30-27 overtime loss to the Chargers. We had Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator. Our offense was on fire. We were at home. We were angry and coming off of the 2 point loss to the Seahawks where Richard Sherman got away with mugging Julio. We had a 17 point lead on a bad 5-11 Chargers team at home. They were a west coast team traveling to Atlanta. Falcons were 8-1 all time vs the Chargers. Everything pointed to a Falcons victory.

So for those who saw this game can you please tell me how the 2016 red hot Falcons lost at home to the 5-11 Chargers after being up by 17?

[JD dirtybird21 22,422]

Because stuff just happens. How in the world did the 1-7 Falcons beat the 7-1 Saints? How did the 11-0 Steelers lose to the 4-7 Washington team? Stuff happens. Teams with losing records have strengths and aren’t always as bad as they seem. Same for teams with great records. Aren’t always as great as they seem 

[HASHBROWN3 17,245]

Not necessarily directed at OP here so please don't take offense.  

We're all hurt, angry & tormented because we love our falcons, but have witnessed brutal losses & incomparable disappointment.  

Our natural desire is to cast blame & find scapegoats for our pain.  That can be good for accountability purposes. But it can also leave us negative & defeated & hostile.  I get that way.  Anger is hurt turned inside out I think.  

I don't need or want that hostility to invade my spirit.  I want to work harder to be hopeful about our future & do my best to live with an eager, anticipative & enthusiastic disposition.  

I think we need to try our best to keep the faith that good things will come.  Our time is coming.  

[FalconJim 1,789]

Because we needed to test how to lose in the Super Bowl, after having a big lead?   😜

[Jesus 25,667]

Every NFL team is just a few plays away from beating every other NFL team. The talent isn't that different from one team to the next. It comes down to coaching, execution and a few good ball bounces.

[Falcons Fan MVP 3,744]

5 minutes ago, HASHBROWN3 said:

Not necessarily directed at OP here so please don't take offense.  

We're all hurt, angry & tormented because we love our falcons, but have witnessed brutal losses & incomparable disappointment.  

Our natural desire is to cast blame & find scapegoats for our pain.  That can be good for accountability purposes. But it can also leave us negative & defeated & hostile.  I get that way.  Anger is hurt turned inside out I think.  

I don't need or want that hostility to invade my spirit.  I want to work harder to be hopeful about our future & do my best to live with an eager, anticipative & enthusiastic disposition.  

I think we need to try our best to keep the faith that good things will come.  Our time is coming.  

We are playing the Chargers this week that's why I brought it up. I've been waiting 4 years for the Falcons to get pay back on the Chargers. 

 

 

[Mr.11 8,180]

13 minutes ago, HASHBROWN3 said:

Not necessarily directed at OP here so please don't take offense.  

We're all hurt, angry & tormented because we love our falcons, but have witnessed brutal losses & incomparable disappointment.  

Our natural desire is to cast blame & find scapegoats for our pain.  That can be good for accountability purposes. But it can also leave us negative & defeated & hostile.  I get that way.  Anger is hurt turned inside out I think.  

I don't need or want that hostility to invade my spirit.  I want to work harder to be hopeful about our future & do my best to live with an eager, anticipative & enthusiastic disposition.  

I think we need to try our best to keep the faith that good things will come.  Our time is coming.  

I just hope the Saints don't win another Super Bowl before that happens, and I have a bad feeling they're playing in it this year, especially if they secure the top seed.

I know that was hypocritical on my part.

[DonOfThemBirds 18,453]

1 minute ago, Mr.11 said:

I just hope the Saints don't win another Super Bowl before that happens, and I have a bad feeling they're playing in it this year, especially if they secure the top seed.

I know that was hypocritical on my part.

 

I don't see them beating the Steelers or Chiefs in a SB.

 

GB has been playing really well also. Didn't the Packers already beat the Saints this year?

[Killing Floor 877]

Oh, you must be new in town.  Atlanta has a great restaurant scene, a vibrant music culture and the Falcons do Falcons stuff for no quantifiable reason.  Happy to make food recommendations depending on what part of town you're in.  Can't help you with turning W into L on the fly.  Do the Falcons have any other 4th quarter collapses that come to mind?  Surely the Chargers can't be "the" 4th quarter cave-in of all time.

[Mr.11 8,180]

Just now, DonOfThemBirds said:

 

I don't see them beating the Steelers or Chiefs in a SB.

 

GB has been playing really well also. Didn't the Packers already beat the Saints this year?

Yeah, that's the only thing giving me respite. GB beat them in NO earlier this season and I don't think NO could keep up with the Chiefs, who I think will return to the SB. Granted, Denver gave the Chiefs all they could handle before bowing out, and this is Brees' final season, so the Saints would play as hard as they could to give him a ride into the sunset like Peyton Manning.

[FalconsIn2012 35,691]

Falcons were outscored by like 75 points in the 4th quarter and OT in 2016

[Dem Birds 10,566]

1 hour ago, Falcons Fan MVP said:

I never saw this game but one regular season game that really ticked me off in 2016 was the 30-27 overtime loss to the Chargers. We had Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator. Our offense was on fire. We were at home. We were angry and coming off of the 2 point loss to the Seahawks where Richard Sherman got away with mugging Julio. We had a 17 point lead on a bad 5-11 Chargers team at home. They were a west coast team traveling to Atlanta. Falcons were 8-1 all time vs the Chargers. Everything pointed to a Falcons victory.

So for those who saw this game can you please tell me how the 2016 red hot Falcons lost at home to the 5-11 Chargers after being up by 17?

The Chargers weren't 5-11 when we played them. I don't know what their record was but it was fairly early in the season and any number of things could have contributed to the finished record being so poor

[emc008 353]

34 minutes ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

Falcons were outscored by like 75 points in the 4th quarter and OT in 2016

Yea but considering we were up pretty big in alot of those games and went into prevent D and tons of garbage time points/yards against us.

[Ghosts of Glanville 3,387]

I was at that game.  It was the usual stuff; they farted around and let the Chargers sneak back in, and a crucial Ryan pick let them tie it.   Then in OT Quinn went for it on 4th and 2 on our own 31 (!!!!!!), we got stuffed, and the Chargers chipped it in for the W.   It was a harbinger of things to come.  
 

we need to remember that 2016 team was 7-5 before going on the greatest 6 3/4-game run in franchise history 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Ghosts of Glanville

[Beast-N-Da-Sheetz 3,973]

This was the last game I attended at the Georgia Dome. My son fell asleep while it was 27-10. When I woke him up to leave, he asked "how bad did we beat em?" Then looked up at the score and completely lost it. Lol

[octoslash 18,169]

3 hours ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

Falcons were outscored by like 75 points in the 4th quarter and OT in 2016

Yeah but those were just points.  Points are but a fraction of the overall metric.

🤓

[Falcons Fan MVP 3,744]

2 hours ago, Beast-N-Da-Sheetz said:

This was the last game I attended at the Georgia Dome. My son fell asleep while it was 27-10. When I woke him up to leave, he asked "how bad did we beat em?" Then looked up at the score and completely lost it. Lol

That's the Falcons for you.

[Dr Long Shot 3,923]

4 hours ago, JD dirtybird21 said:

Because stuff just happens. How in the world did the 1-7 Falcons beat the 7-1 Saints? How did the 11-0 Steelers lose to the 4-7 Washington team? Stuff happens. Teams with losing records have strengths and aren’t always as bad as they seem. Same for teams with great records. Aren’t always as great as they seem 

That Chargers team was a lot better than their record and that 2016 defense was every bit as trash as all the other Quinn defenses but got hot at the end of the year playing with huge leads. 

[Dr Long Shot 3,923]

3 hours ago, emc008 said:

Yea but considering we were up pretty big in alot of those games and went into prevent D and tons of garbage time points/yards against us.

Especially late in the year. 

[NCFalconfan 9,643]

Easy. Dan Quinn. 

[Beast-N-Da-Sheetz 3,973]

1 hour ago, Falcons Fan MVP said:

That's the Falcons for you.

Yep never fails, or should I say always fails? Lol

[mqg96 2,316]

That same Chargers team we lost too in OT after blowing a 17 point lead. Gave the 1-15 Browns their only win all year, and their only win the following 2 seasons, yep, because that Browns team went 0-16 the following year. 

 

But it's a variety of things. Between 2013 and 2019, the Falcons could not win a home game vs. the AFC except for the 2015 Texans and 2019 Jaguars. That drought finally ended this year in 2020 since we've gone 2-0 vs the Broncos and Raiders at home (well it technically started with the Jaguars end of last year).

 

Second, blowing that 27-10 lead to the Chargers and losing 33-30 (in OT) foreshadowed what was to come for the Falcons. Keep in mind, the 2016 Falcons also had a 38-19 lead on the Saints in the 4th quarter and the Saints came back quickly and made it a 6 point game, but we hung on 38-32 to clinch our 11-5 season and 1st round bye.

 

Little things like that. The Falcons with Matt Ryan (& Thomas Dimitroff) have always been a team, who loves to start fast, and try to hang on and hope they don't lose, it goes further back. It was going on during the Mike Smith years too, not just Dan Quinn. It's a problem with how we've been drafting at the line of scrimmage combined with the 4th quarter woes. Our inability to run out clock and have a clutch defense towards the end. 

[Falcons Fan MVP 3,744]

56 minutes ago, mqg96 said:

That same Chargers team we lost too in OT after blowing a 17 point lead. Gave the 1-15 Browns their only win all year, and their only win the following 2 seasons, yep, because that Browns team went 0-16 the following year. 

 

But it's a variety of things. Between 2013 and 2019, the Falcons could not win a home game vs. the AFC except for the 2015 Texans and 2019 Jaguars. That drought finally ended this year in 2020 since we've gone 2-0 vs the Broncos and Raiders at home (well it technically started with the Jaguars end of last year).

 

Second, blowing that 27-10 lead to the Chargers and losing 33-30 (in OT) foreshadowed what was to come for the Falcons. Keep in mind, the 2016 Falcons also had a 38-19 lead on the Saints in the 4th quarter and the Saints came back quickly and made it a 6 point game, but we hung on 38-32 to clinch our 11-5 season and 1st round bye.

 

Little things like that. The Falcons with Matt Ryan (& Thomas Dimitroff) have always been a team, who loves to start fast, and try to hang on and hope they don't lose, it goes further back. It was going on during the Mike Smith years too, not just Dan Quinn. It's a problem with how we've been drafting at the line of scrimmage combined with the 4th quarter woes. Our inability to run out clock and have a clutch defense towards the end. 

I forgot about the Chargers loss to the 1-15 Browns that year. I hope the Falcons blow them out badly on Sunday.

[WhenFalconsWin 27,931]

I've mentioned this before, and it was the first sign that something was wrong in the Quinn regime, (even those this was the SB season) and it never stopped from there on as it reared its ugly head in SB51 and every other subsequent season Quinn was allowed to coach this team. 

[Falcons Fan MVP 3,744]

3 minutes ago, WhenFalconsWin said:

I've mentioned this before, and it was the first sign that something was wrong in the Quinn regime, (even those this was the SB season) and it never stopped from there on as it reared its ugly head in SB51 and every other subsequent season Quinn was allowed to coach this team. 

Other than the 17-0 loss to Jay Cutler which can be explained by Sark's struggles we didn't have a collapse like that until 2020 against Dallas and Chicago.