The Atlanta Falcons suffered a heavy 22-17 loss at home to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. The loss was even more painful because Atlanta had a chance to score the winning goal on their final possession.

After moving 49 yards to the Chiefs’ 13-yard line, the Falcons faced a fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive with 0:58 left. However, instead of calling for a quarterback sneak that would have likely resulted in a first down with less than a yard to gain, Atlanta called for an outside run to Bijan Robinson to the left that was smothered by the Chiefs defense.

Robinson lost three yards on the play and the Falcons lost the ball — and thus the game — on downs.

Atlanta coach Raheem Morris was asked Monday about the play call on that fourth down (and the third-down call on which Tyler Allgeier was tackled for no gain). Why not call a QB sneak that would have been a short push instead of an outside run that had to develop?

“It was definitely part of the discussion last night, sneaking around and stuff like that,” Morris said, via reporter Terrin Waack. “I feel really good about our two full-backs.”

Morris is right to have two productive running backs in Robinson and Allgeier. Yet Kansas City had contained both players up to that point. Robinson had 34 yards up to that point (an average of 2.3 yards per carry), while Allgeier had 32. Still, there was less than a yard to be gained. Even if a QB sneak wasn’t favored, why not call for an inside run?

When asked if this was the decision of offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and not himself, Morris replied that the decision was made by the staff.

“In that particular situation, it was collaborative,” Morris said. “It clearly didn’t work. But that wasn’t a choice anyone made.”

Was there any fear in putting Kirk Cousins ​​through that mill of a game after a torn Achilles injury? Was there any doubt that backup center Ryan Neuzil, who was replacing the injured Drew Dalman, could execute that game well?

Those may have been considerations in the discussion Morris said took place before the fourth-down call. But as he clearly stated, the sweep play the Falcons coaches were using didn’t work. As a result, Atlanta is 1-2 after the first three games and must wonder if it could have had a winning record if better plays and decisions had been made.