Column: Another grim chapter for Atlanta’s sports history

As ball spun slowly along turf at Jerry’s World, black-cl players backing away like it was a live grene, Atlanta’s grim sports history flooded consciousness.

It was an unstoppable wave of misery, disgust and gagging at most ipportune times, all wrapped up in an almost laughable inevitability.

re was never any doubt a Dallas player would fall on onside kick before Falcons did. re was never any doubt Cowboys would complete a pass to get into field-goal range. re was never any doubt game-winning kick would almost perfectly split uprights, handing a team from Atlanta an almost unfathomable defeat.

That’s way we roll in A-T-L.

I’m t a native Atlantan, but pretty much closest thing to it, having been born about 80 miles away and moving to rapidly sprawling suburbs between third and fourth gres. Growing up in metro meant learning to deal with sporting disappointment from a very early , and accepting realization that it would come over and over and over again.

For those rare shining moments — Hank Aaron’s 715th homer stands above all else from my childhood — re was a seemingly endless succession of overmatched players, dimwitted coaches and bumbling front offices.

Even when something seemingly went right, like Falcons earning ir first division title in 1980, any joy would inevitably be snatched away, as it was on a frigid January afteron when, at 17, I sat in corner of end zone at cookie-cutter Atlanta-Fulton County Stium with my parents and bror for an NFC divisional playoff game, watching Birds squander a 24-10 le to Dallas Cowboys in fourth quarter.

I thought of Danny White delivering game-winning pass to Drew Pearson a little over 40 years ago as a new group of Falcons somehow found a way to follow in footsteps of ir ancestors, melting down against a new group of Cowboys on Sunday.

Falcons led 20-0 in first quarter after Dallas fumbled ball away three times. y were up 29-10 at halftime. After seemingly wearing a comeback by home team, y were still up 39-24 with less than 5 minutes to go and 39-30 as 2-minute warning went by.

Cowboys scored a touchdown to cut it to 39-37, n lined up for an onside kick. This play was always a bit of crapshoot, but under rule changes implemented before 2018 season to improve safety, it has become almost impossible to execute successfully since kicking team can’t get a running start or stack most of its players on one side of field.

But Dallas didn’t have any choice, so kicker Greg Zuerlein placed ball on its side at 35-yard yard line, t even boring with a tee, and sent it spinning toward Falcons players lined up across from him.

While Cowboys were forbidden to fall on ball until it traveled at least 10 yards, Falcons could’ve covered it any time y wanted. y were certainly in position to do that, as five players hovered near ball — at least three of m easily in position to scoop it up — well before required distance.

But all of m acted as though y’d never seen a rulebook, merely watching ball until it reached 45. By time y finally pounced. C.J. Goodwin h gotten re first, giving Cowboys a chance to pull out victory.

That y did. Dak Prescott completed a 24-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb, setting up Zeurlein for 46-yard field goal as time expired to give Dallas a 40-39 victory.

“re’s thing you can say,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan moaned. “This one stings and it sucks.”

He could’ve been speaking for so many or Atlanta sports moments.

re was Jim Leyritz homering against Atlanta Braves to turn tide in 1996 World Series. re was Falcons’ Eugene Robinson getting arrested night before 1999 Super Bowl, t to mention franchise quarterback Michael Vick getting sent to prison for running a dogfighting operation.

re was city losing t one but two NHL teams because of financial woes. re was Falcons squandering a 17-0 le at home in 2013 NFC championship game. re was top-seeded Atlanta Hawks getting swept in four straight games by LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 NBA Eastern Conference final.

re was Georgia Bulldogs giving up a long touchdown pass in overtime to lose 2018 national championship game to Alabama (held in Atlanta, of course). re was Braves getting bombarded with 10 first-inning runs in decisive Game 5 of last year’s NL Division Series against Cardinals to take ir record-tying 10th straight postseason loss.

And, of course, re’s grandddy of m all: Falcons squandered a 28-3 le late in third quarter of 2017 Super Bowl and losing in overtime to Tom Bry and New England Patriots.

Though re were immediate comparisons on social media, loss Sunday doesn’t come close to that Super Bowl debacle in Houston, or than both occurring in Texas.

This was only Week 2 of NFL season. Falcons still have time to bounce back from this one, though re are sure to be plenty of questions about coach Dan Quinn’s future since he alrey was on shaky ground after back-to-back losing seasons.

“You have to get mess across that it’s a marathon,” Ryan said, looking for any silver lining. “re’s question this one stings and it hurts, but a lot can happen. We have 14 games to go in regular season, so re’s plenty of time to get done what we need to get done.”

only thing y’ve accomplished so far is becoming rarest of foottes in NFL history.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, 440 NFL teams h scored 39 points in a game while committing turvers since those stats became available in 1933.

Those teams h a record of 440—0.

On Sunday, Falcons became 441st team to do it.

Make that record 440-1.

That’s way we roll in A-T-L.