MADRID, Spain — At the start of every Atlanta Falcons team meeting, head coach Kevin Stefanski pulls up a count: the number of penalties the team committed during the previous day's practice.
"Usually, it's less than one or two penalties each day," quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said. "We've had some clean days as well."
So, when the Falcons came out against the Cincinnati Bengals in Spain on Sunday morning and committed 12 penalties for a total loss of 88 yards, everyone in the losing locker room knew what their head coach would be most frustrated and upset about.
"We had too many self-inflicted things today that will make it really hard to win versus any opponent," Stefanski said, "and in this case, a very good football team."
Because that's what the Bengals were: a very good team with an offense ready to explode.
The Falcons knew what kind of team they were facing across the Atlantic. They knew the Bengals had a high-powered offense and that they would need to be at their best. They were well aware that Cincinnati was going to score. For the Falcons, that meant they would have to go pound for pound, punch for punch, to keep the game within reach.
Though the start of the game suggested things might unfold that way, that's not how it ended. A big reason was that every time the Falcons tried to land a punch, they ended up hurting themselves while the Bengals kept swinging.
Defensively, the Falcons had no answer for Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase or Tee Higgins. Burrow threw for 271 yards and completed 82.8 percent of his passes. Chase accounted for 155 of those receiving yards, while Higgins' two touchdown catches helped establish and later solidify the Bengals' lead.
Meanwhile, the Falcons' offense struggled to build on any momentum it generated, thanks in large part to holding, false start and delay of game penalties. Stefanski called the accumulation of pre-snap penalties "inexcusable."
"There were some critical moments, whether that was a miscommunication on defense, whether that was the 12 penalties that we had, those are key," Jessie Bates said post-game. "It doesn't seem like a big thing but when you're playing against a really good team and you're playing late in these, late in the season, you've gotta be at your best because that margin of error just becomes smaller and smaller as you get deeper into the season. Whether that's our offense starting at the 10-yard line, that's not winning football."
One of the toughest penalties to swallow came early in the game, during the Falcons' second drive. They were moving the ball in chunks and had reached the 10-yard line. Though the play broke down quickly, Penix scrambled and was tackled at the 1-yard line. A holding penalty not only wiped out the gain that would have left the Falcons just one yard from the goal line, but also tacked on 10 yards, pushing them back to the 17-yard line.
Unable to make a play for the end zone after that (and further hindered by a false start), the Falcons had to settle for a field goal. Against a different Bengals offense, that might have been survivable. But not when the Bengals scored on every possession they had in the first half.
"When you're in those situations, you have to take advantage of every opportunity you have," Penix said. "So, whenever we do have a penalty like that bringing us from the one to the 15, or whatever it was, that's crushing. And we can't do that.
"Great football teams can't do that, and we can't beat ourselves. We have to go out there and beat the other team."
Defensive leaders, however, wouldn't let the offense take all the blame. Bates acknowledged that the defense also did little to help keep the game manageable.
"You (have to) force guys to kick field goals, you (have to) limit explosive plays — I think there were plenty of explosive plays that turned into 7 points — if you want to keep the game close," Bates said. "I feel like our offense did a hell of a job keeping drives going. But we just have to keep that score down, give our offense a chance to keep it close."
Special teams faltered, too, as Nick Folk missed another field goal in the second half.
From top to bottom, unit to unit, the Falcons simply didn't play well. And in this league, especially when facing an offense like the Bengals', being at your best is critical.
"When you're playing good football teams you have to be at your best," Stefanski concluded. "And we were not at our best."
Get an inside look at the matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals at Bernabéu Stadium during Week 9.
