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Chaos in the final phase: The Cowboys succeed in an onside kick against the Falcons
Photo:
Ron Jenkins / AP
In a dramatic NFL game, the Atlanta Falcons gave up a 20-point lead on Sunday night.
At 39:40 (29:10) against the Dallas Cowboys, a strange onside kick made the decision about two minutes before the end of the game.
After a touchdown and subsequent field goal to make it 37:39, the Cowboys tried to stay in possession of the ball with only 1:49 minutes remaining.
Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein also played the ball flat and with little speed in the direction of the opposing returning team.
Unlike Zuerlein's teammates, who were only allowed to touch the ball after ten yards, the Falcons players could have picked up the ball at any time.
Instead, they let him pass, apparently believing the ten yard limit applied to them too.
So a grotesque picture developed with waiting, almost shy players.
It wasn't until a Cowboys player threw himself on the ball that the Falcons rushed after.
The so-called onside kick is a trick play and a variant of the kick in which a team shoots the ball back to the opponent after a touchdown.
As a rule, the kicker tries to shoot the ball as far as possible to the opponent's end zone in order to leave the opponent in a bad field position.
With the onside kick, however, the kicker tries to shoot the ball in such a way that his teammates promptly take it away from the opponent.
The play involves some risk: the team taking the kick may only pick up the ball after a distance of ten yards.
The opponent can do this immediately.
If the "kicking" team loses the ball, the opponent comes to the ball in a good field position. And it is the rule that it loses the ball - in the past season only around 13 percent of the attempts were successful.
This time it worked - and how.
After the successful onside kick, Zuerlein scored the decisive field goal four seconds before the end of the game.
It was the end of a spectacular comeback;
before that, a lot had gone wrong for the cowboys.
They lost the ball three times through fumbles, and once after a fake punt.
And yet they came back after falling 0:20 after the first quarter: Quarterback Dak Prescott threw a touchdown at an outstanding 450 yards and ran three more.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan also made a strong game, throwing a total of four touchdowns with no interception.
The fact that he still lost is historical: As the portal ESPN reports, it is the first time since data recording began in 1933 that a team lost even though it scored at least 39 points and not a single turnover.
Teams had won 440 times in these statistics.
Injured streak in the NFL
The onside kick was the one big story of NFL day.
The other: Serious injuries that affect several teams.
With Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers and Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants, two stars had to leave the field with suspected cruciate ligament rupture.
The 49ers in particular were hit hard: In addition to Bosa, who was named Rookie of the Year last season, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and star running back Raheem Mostert also had to go out.
Nevertheless, the Super Bowl participant last season managed a safe 31:13 win against the New York Jets.
At the Los Angeles Chargers, quarterback Tyrod Taylor was injured before the game against Super Bowl winner Kansas City Chiefs.
Because of a chest injury, rookie Justin Herbert had to start, who was drawn in the first round in the 2020 draft.
And Herbert made his case strong: With 311 yards he threw a touchdown, among other things, and he ran another himself. With that, the 22-year-old led his team, which was considered a clear underdog against Kansas, into extra time.
Before that, the Chargers had even led for a long time before Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes led his team to equalize.
In extra time, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker decided the game with a field goal from 58 yards.
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