Video: Matt Ryan cost Falcons dearly with stupid taunting mistake

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was the victim of bad luck and then a bad decision during Sunday’s game in Buffalo.

Ryan was trying to engineer a comeback late in the fourth quarter against the Bills with the Falcons down 29-15. On 2nd and goal at the 7-yard line, Ryan kept the ball and made a run at the end zone. He appeared to make it, prompting the referees to signal touchdown, and Ryan responded by blatantly taunting Bills safety Jordan Poyer.

Matt Ryan runs in the TD, gets called for taunting pic.twitter.com/j4rCoAkrJ4

— Carlton (@CrispyCarlton) January 2, 2022

Ryan taunting Poyer is pretty inexplicable, not just because the Falcons were losing. Ryan should know the league’s emphasis on taunting was going to get him flagged every time.

It gets worse, though. The play was reviewed, and it was ruled that Ryan’s knee was down short of the end zone. That would have set up third and goal at the 1-yard line, but Ryan’s taunting penalty was still enforced, backing Atlanta up another 15 yards. The Falcons instead had to contend with 3rd and goal from the 16, and they failed to score and wound up turning the ball over on downs.

On one hand, there is an argument that taunting is being enforced far too strictly. On the other, Ryan has been watching that happen all year. He thought he’d scored, so maybe he didn’t care about the penalty, but this is a lesson that this should not matter.