Any player of the Madden NFL or EA Sports College Football video game series knows that clock management in late-game situations is crucial and using timeouts late puts your team in the best position to win in tie games or coming from behind.

Apparently, NFL coaches have yet to get the memo. First it was Bears coach Matt Eberflus, who failed to call timeout late in a Thanksgiving Day game defeat which ultimately cost him his job.

This time, it was Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris who made a colossal error on Sunday Night Football against the Washington Commanders that may cost his team a division тιтle and a spot in the playoffs.

The Falcons mounted a monumental comeback to tie the game down 24-17 with under two minutes remaining in a game Atlanta needed to win in order to keep pole position in the NFC South and control their own playoff destiny going into the final week of the regular season.

After the touchdown, Washington got the ball back – but went a quick three-and-out, punting and giving Atlanta the ball at their own 19 with 40 seconds left to get into field goal range to try and win the game. Out of the gate, Atlanta’s rookie quarterback – Michael Penix Jr – delivered a 25-yard strike to Darnell Mooney. It put them on the 44 yard line and if the Falcons called one of their two remaining timeouts, they’d have 32 seconds to get further up the field.

Except, Morris never called timeout. In fact, Morris watched as his team bled 16 seconds of precious time off the clock as they struggled to line up quickly.

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris made a colossal mistake that could cost his team a playoff spot when he failed to call timeout late in the game to try and get better field position

It bit the Falcons hard as kicker Riley Patterson’s game-winning field goal kick came up short

In overtime, Washington QB Jayden Daniels (L) found TE Zach Ertz (R) for a game-winning TD

Were it not for a pair of penalties (a five-yard neutral zone infraction and a 13-yard pᴀss interference call) on Washington, the Falcons would have had no sH๏τ of winning the game in regulation thanks to Morris’ blunder.

But instead, Falcons fans had their hopes toyed with when backup kicker Riley Patterson (in for the injured Younghoe Koo) trotted out to attempt to hit the longest field goal of his career at 56-yards.

His kick was on-line, but fell yards short of the uprights – sending the game to overtime. In OT, Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels singlehandedly drove Washington down the field before he hit тιԍнт end Zach Ertz for a touchdown to win the game 30-24.

After the game, fans lambasted Morris for his awful clock management and costly decision making that now sees the Falcons have only a 15 percent chance of making the playoffs.

When asked why he didn’t call timeout, Morris gave a bizarre explanation to reporters.

‘I thought we could get to the line of scrimmage with our operation there, could be a little bit faster there,’ Morris explained before strangely adding that he was ‘trying to save that timeout.’

‘In hindsight,’ the coach said, ‘could have been a good decision – or better decision – to take that timeout to have more opportunity to move up there.’

Why a coach would try to save a timeout with the clock running down and the game on the line is beyond comprehension. The time for saving timeouts is usually before the endgame of a contest, not during the final stages of it.

Fans blasted Morris for his poor clock management that may cost Atlanta a playoff spot

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Falcons fans criticized Morris thoroughly on social media for his decision making – with many calling for his job after just one season at the helm.

‘Raheem Morris not calling a timeout with :30 left one of the most boneheaded decisions you will see,’ wrote The Ringer’s Warren Sharp on X, formerly Twitter.

One irate Atlanta sports fan posted, ‘I’m gonna quit my job, get a degree in journalism, work my way up through the ranks, and become a trusted beat reporter just so I can ask Raheem Morris why he is so f***ing stupid.’

A content creator by the name of @UrinatingTree said, ‘You had two timeouts, Raheem. Why the f*** didn’t you call one of them there, you dumba**?’ In a follow-up, he posted again: ‘No wonder why Raheem Morris got canned from Tampa Bay. Absolute dumba**ery.’

‘This was one of the worst coaching performance Raheem Morris has ever had and that’s counting the Tampa Bay years,’ another poster wrote.

Quote tweeting the video of Morris’ press conference, another user said, ‘Such an embarrᴀssing statement by Raheem Morris. Clearly deflecting the blame toward his players instead of himself, & the explanation for saving timeouts makes no sense. I was a big fan of the hire, but it’s gonna be really hard to come back from this.’

‘You can blame Patterson if you want, but I blame Raheem Morris. #Falcons should have had at least two more plays to make that an easier kick,’ said Falcoholic reporter Kevin Knight.

As previously mentioned, the Falcons now only have a 15 percent chance of making the playoffs. They have to win their final game against the Carolina Panthers – plus, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to lose to the New Orleans Saints.