SANTA CLARA, Calif. _ Every disappointing NFL team can tell a story in which they aren't as bad as they seem and the standings might show it with better luck. For the Falcons that narrative includes Matt Bryant's missed extra point to tie in Arizona, Devonta Freeman's goal-line fumble against Seattle and the three-sack surrender after the Saints tried to gift them a victory in Atlanta.
I was thinking about all that on Sunday as the Falcons answered San Francisco's long, grinding touchdown drive with a tying score. Those missed chances were on my mind when the Falcons then forced a three-and-out and kicked a field goal took a lead just before halftime. I really started believing this alternate Falcons reality when Foyesade Oluokon recovered an onside kick after halftime and Kenjon Barner sprinted for a long punt return to set up a potential go-ahead score.
Those those plays didn't count because of penalties. That's how it went for most of the day for the Falcons. It happened again when Austin Hooper would-be winning touchdown catch with five seconds left was overturned on replay review. Then Julio Jones got tackled one yard short of the end zone and the 49ers escaped ...
But wait! After a replay review, officials ruled that Jones had scored with a second left. The Falcons beat the 49ers 29-22 at Levi's Stadium. The 49ers were favored by 10-{ and points and led 19-10 in the fourth quarter but the Falcons (5-9) rallied for their fourth win in six games since their bye week.
Kenjon Barner's fumble on a punt return had seemed to be a fatal miscue for the Falcons. They'd held San Francisco to a field goal on three second-half possessions while recording a takeaway. Barner fielded Mitch Wishnowsky's punt at the 10-yard line and tried to make something happen.
He made it seven yards before Ross Dwelley jarred the ball loose. Kyle Juszczyk scooped it up and ran it back to the one-yard line. The 49ers scored two plays later when Juszczyk caught a touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo. They missed the extra point and the Falcons responded with a nine-play touchdown drive.
San Francisco's lead was 19-17 with 5:15 to go. The 49ers kicked a field goal to go up 22-17 with less than two minutes left. Then the Falcons went 70 yards to score the game-winner.
No need to add Barner's fumble to the Falcons what-if file in 2019. Forget about the illegal formation penalty that wiped out what would have been Olukon's second recovered on-side kick. The block in the back turned Barner's 57-yard return into a three-yard loss in the third quarter didn't matter.
Early on it looked as if the 49ers might grind the Falcons to dust. Their first TD drive lasted 21 plays and nearly 11 minutes. The 49ers converted four third downs and a fourth down. The Falcons aided their cause with Adrian Clayborn's roughing the passer penalty on Garoppolo's incomplete pass on third-and-19.
The Falcons generated just enough offense against San Francisco's league best-defense. It probably helped that the 49ers were missing four starters.
Richard Sherman, who has reemerged as a top cornerback, was among three secondary players on the injured list. The 49ers didn't have nose tackle D.J. Jones to anchor their run defense, which is a relative weakness. Backup defensive tackle Jullian Taylor and defensive end Dee Ford were out, too.
The Falcons' running game has been ineffective all season. They rushed for a season-high 159 yards last week but that came against Carolina's awful run defense. The Falcons topped 100 yards rushing in just two other games. Playing from behind explains some of that, but mostly the Falcons struggled to block.
The Falcons tried doing to San Francisco what they did to Carolina. Grind out yards on the ground with a healthy dose of runs behind rookie offensive linemen Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary on the right side. The results weren't good: 89 yards on 20 carries.
Even with a lackluster run game the Falcons were able to leverage their greatest strength, Ryan to Jones. That combo produced 48 yards on the game-tying touchdown drive in the first quarter. Jones had three catches to convert third downs and finished the drive with a five-yard TD catch, his first since Week 3 at Indianapolis.
The Falcons won on Jones' second TD catch of the game. The Falcons fouled up plenty but they kept fighting. This was a game that make you wonder what might have been.
