5 Takeaways from Lions' 20-16 Loss to Falcons

The Detroit Lions struggle to contain the tight ends of the Atlanta Falcons in latest loss.

The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons have played their fair share of exciting and close contests over the past couple of seasons. 

On Sunday, a depleted Lions roster entered Mercedes-Benz Stadium without its starting quarterback, running back and cornerback, and matched up against an NFC South team that still had things to play for. 

In the end, tight end Kyle Pitts and Hayden Hurst were too formidable for Detroit's depleted secondary to handle.

Here are five takeaways from Detroit's 20-16 Week 16 loss to the Falcons.

Dale Zanine, USA TODAY Sports

Far too many false-start penalties cost Lions' offense

Throughout the game, Detroit's offense flinched on multiple occasions, including at key moments.

It could be reasoned that Boyle and Co. did not have enough practice time, as even Boyle flinched early in the fourth quarter and earned a false-start penalty. 

Jonah Jackson, who was named a Pro Bowl alternate earlier this week, flinched on fourth-and-1 in the first half, forcing his team to punt and costing his team an opportunity to retain possession.

By the end of the third quarter, Detroit had committed five false-start penalties, and had six total on the afternoon. 

Costly penalties cost Detroit opportunities to score touchdowns, and forced the team to settle for field goals instead.

Rookie kicker Riley Patterson has started his NFL career with ten straight field-goal attempts made, including two makes from 26 and one made try from 37 yards out.

Aaron Glenn dials up the pressure against Matt Ryan 

Detroit's defense has had plenty of success matching up against quarterbacks who are not a significant threat to rush the football. 

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is certainly not going to burn defenses with his rushing ability anytime soon. 

In the Falcons' first offensive series of the game, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn dialed up the pressure, and Derrick Barnes, Alim McNeill and Austin Bryant all had sacks for a defense that has been much more aggressive lately.

Jason Getz, USA TODAY Sports

Jack Fox shows off passing skills again in trick play

In the second quarter, with 5:31 remaining and trailing, 7-3, the Lions dialed up another fake punt. 

Jack Fox found wideout KhaDarel Hodge on a 21-yard completion. 

The extra offensive possession paid off, as Tim Boyle found rookie wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown for Detroit's first touchdown of the game. It made it a 10-7 game in favor of the Lions. 

Detroit's talented punter has now totaled 38 passing yards on the 2021 season, the most for a Lions punter since Tom Skladany back in 1980.

Falcons' tight ends prove to be too much to handle

Kyle Pitts was a top-four NFL draft pick for a reason. 

With sheer size and speed, the talented rookie tight end had a very productive afternoon. Pitts secured over 100 yards receiving on the afternoon, with a long of 35 yards. 

Ryan methodically moved the Falcons' offense down the field on several drives, and took advantage of a variety of mismatches with Pitts and Hurst at just the right moments. 

Atlanta took a 20-13 lead early in the fourth quarter when Ryan found Hurst on a 12-yard touchdown reception. 

Lions tie record for fourth-down attempts in a season

Against the Falcons, the Lions tied last year's Philadelphia Eagles for the all-time record for fourth-down attempts in a season (35). 

Late in the game, though, head coach Dan Campbell made the decision not to go for it on fourth down. 

Many supporters and pundits would have liked to see Campbell choose to be more aggressive on fourth-and-6 with only 2:38 remaining. 

Atlanta had scored points on each of its last four possessions when the decision was made to kick the field goal, which cut the Lions' deficit to four, 20-16.

Detroit was able to secure a turnover late, but Boyle threw a late interception with the offense in position to take the lead. 

The loss drops the Lions to 2-12-1 on the season.