Falcons coach takes sour grapes to new level by accusing Patriots of cheating

The Patriots added another impressive win to their season on Sunday, beating the Falcons by just one point and heading into their next big battle vs. the Bucs with a 7-2 record —the best in the AFC after this week's slate of games. Although they were favored to win in the days leading up to the game, they put on a sloppy performance that could have easily ended in a loss, with a missed extra point becoming their saving grace.

It turned out to be the reason they won, and the Falcons had a chance to steal that victory away with two minutes left in the game. But a botched snap led to an intentional grounding call on quarterback Michael Penix Jr., resulting in a 15-yard penalty that completely derailed Atlanta's efforts.

That play has now been deemed controversial in the Falcons' eyes, as they attempted to insinuate that the Patriots' defense cheated, which led to the early snap by the center. Head coach Raheem Morris said as much while speaking to reporters after the game, suggesting the Patriots' defense imitated Penix's pre-snap clap, and it seems more chalked up to sour grapes than anything else.

"They were clapping and simulated our snap. That's why the ball got snapped early and Mike wasn't ready for the snap."

Unfortunately, that's not where the drama ended.

The Falcons are trying to create a controversy with the Patriots where there is none

Making matters worse, Penix chimed in on the subject and seemingly backed up Morris's accusations, further suggesting that he heard clapping to throw off the center to hike the football prematurely.

"Whenever I'm clapping, that means I want the ball, and [Neuzil] said he heard them clapping [and] he thought it was my clapping. He snapped the ball, I threw the ball in [Pitts'] direction. He had just released on routes. I thought I was going to be OK with the grounding part, but obviously that wasn't the case."

Because much of this was said before Patriots players spoke to the media, reporters were quick to ask some key defenders their feelings on the matter. Milton Williams wasn't too pleased to hear what was being said, stating, "I ain't hear no clap," Williams said. "I'm looking at the ball. The ball moves, I'm gone."

MassLive's Mark Daniels brought back the video of the play, and unless we're all missing something, there's no clapping to be heard or seen.

The Falcons would be better off just dealing with the fact that it was an offensive mistake, with Penix being penalized, and not being able to make the comeback they hoped for. They put up a good fight and didn't make it easy for the Patriots to get the win, and that's something to be proud of.

It would be much more respectable than trying to conjure something up that puts a dark cloud over the Patriots' win.