Bill Belichick Roasts Raheem Morris, Who Got The Falcons Job Over Him, For Blowing A Game

Bill Belichick has always been a calculating, tactical football coach. And person. Which is why we can say with confidence that it was no coincidence that he went on a long and in-depth explanation of how he handled late-game timeouts on the Pat McAfee show this week.

Belichick discussed timeout usage on the “progrum” during his latest weekly appearance and brought examples of how poor clock management can cost teams points and, yes, games. And he used the Atlanta Falcons and coach Raheem Morris as an example of one such failure.

Dec 16, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris leaves the field after the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Belichick: What Morris Should Have Done

You know Morris, right? He’s the coach who got the Atlanta Falcons job over Belichick.

And we’re not sure if Belichick has forgotten that. But perhaps not.

The fact is, Belichick, in a vote of the Atlanta brain trust who advised owner Arthur Blank on their hiring process, didn’t come in first, second or third in the voting after two interviews.

Against the backdrop: Belichick this week said Morris should have seen the Chicago Bears botch the end of their loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving and should have gone over that situation with his own team before making similarly dumb timeout decisions in their loss to the Commanders.

“Atlanta, they should have watched the Chicago game,” Belichick said. “Even though they weren’t involved in the Chicago game, they should have watched that. Every team in the league should have watched that. They should have said, ‘If we were in this situation, what would we do?’

“At what point would the head coach say, ‘We’ve got to take a timeout,’ or the quarterback, or whoever that is? And when you see things like that come up, that’s a great example. The Cincinnati-Denver game is another one. If I was a head coach, no matter what team I was on, I would watch that with my staff and then go over that with my team and say, ‘Here’s what we do here, here’s what we would do, here’s the type of play we would run, here’s when we would do it.’

“And play both sides of it, because you could be on offense or you could be on defense.”

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 17: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick looks on from the sideline during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium on December 17, 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Morris Blows Clock Management

Belichick said this on a national telecast show. And he knew where he was aiming his fire.

To jog your memory and bring back the mistake to the Falcons: 

The Falcons could have won the game at Washington, which they ultimately lost in regulation, when a 56-yard field goal attempt fell short. But the issue is the Falcons ran out of time to run (probably) at least two more plays that could have gotten them closer than a moonshot kick if they had called time out after gaining a first down at their own 44-yard line.

The Falcons blew approximately 16 seconds by not calling a timeout after that play – time that would have given the offense more opportunities to try to get closer for an easier kick. As it happened, fill-in kicker Riley Patterson’s attempt on first down landed several yards short as time expired in regulation.

The Falcons ended regulation with an unused timeout. They also ended the first half with all three of their timeouts.

Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris looks on before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Belichick Hire Might Have Saved Falcons

Morris said after the game that he, “probably could have,” used the timeout at the opportune moment before seemingly blaming his players for failing to get off the next play quicker. Morris eventually admitted he should have taken the timeout, “in hindsight,” but the damage was done.

Why does this matter now?

The Falcons’ loss to the Commanders helped knock them out of the NFC North lead. And it put them in a position to need help to make the playoffs this weekend.

The Falcons on Sunday must beat the Panthers and hope the Buccaneers lose to the Saints at the same time for them to win the division and make the playoffs. Otherwise, they’ll be out of it.

And they’ll wish they would have handled the Commanders game differently.

As Belichick, the coach they declined to hire, would have.