What Were They Thinking: Falcons self destruct; Austin Davis goes backwards

What Were They Thinking is a weekly post where you get to relive the foolish decisions from the week in the NFL. Enjoy the insanity. 

Lamarr Houston doesn't learn from Stephen Tulloch

Let's get this one out of the way right off the bat. 

First off, Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch tore his ACL in almost the exact same way earlier in the season, yet Houston felt the need to basically duplicate the celebration. 

Secondly, this occurred late in the fourth quarter with the Bears down 25 points. What exactly is Houston celebrating?

Lastly, he didn't even sack Tom Brady, as Jimmy Garoppolo was in at this point because the Patriots were dominating the Patriots so badly. Sacking a backup quarterback shouldn't result in that much joy. 

If you add all that up, you get one of the dumbest things you'll see on the field this year.

Austin Davis takes an ill-timed sack

Austin Davis has filled in admirably at quarterback for the St. Louis Rams this season, but there are still times when he shows his inexperience. 

Davis did just that in the second quarter on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Tied at 7-7 and facing a third-and-goal from the 6-yard line in the second quarter, Davis started going backwards once he started feeling pressure. 

Instead of throwing the ball away to save field position, he ended up taking a sack at the 20-yard line and made the ensuing field goal attempt from 38 yards out instead of 23. Greg Zuerlein missed the kick and the Rams never scored another point the rest of the day.

Davis has to manage those types of situations better if the Rams lackluster offense has any hopes of putting up points on a regular basis. 

Sammy Watkins celebrates too early

Buffalo Bills rookie receiver Sammy Watkins has been electric for most of the season, but he got a little ahead of himself Sunday against the New York Jets. 

Watkins caught a deep pass from quarterback Kyle Orton and looked to be off to the races, so he celebrated as such. However, Saalim Hakim of the Jets had other ideas. 

Hakim chased him down and made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 5-yard line, much to the embarrassment of Watkins. 

The Bills did end up scoring a touchdown on that drive, but Watkins made it far more complicated than it needed to be. If he just keeps running at full speed, he probably scores with ease. The Bills are nowhere near good enough on offense to give opposing defenses second chances. 

Bruce Arians burns through his challenges early

The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a great game Sunday, in spite of a perplexing decision by head coach Bruce Arians.  

With the score 7-7 midway through the second quarter, the Cardinals had the Eagles backed up deep in their own end and staring down a third-and-15. However, Nick Foles scrambled to his right and hit Riley Cooper for a 50-yard completion as the receiver slid out of bounds. 

The play certainly looked like a catch as it appeared Cooper maintained control before hitting the sideline, yet Arians opted to challenge it anyway. Given the fact it was ruled a completion on the field, it was going to take conclusive evidence to overturn it. 

It was a pivotal decision because Arians had already used one of his challenges earlier. If he was wrong, he would be left with none for the rest of the game and down to only one timeout for the rest of the half. 

There were other factors that Arians overlooked here. Granted, a 50-yard gain is a big play, but if it stood, the Eagles were still only at the Cardinals 40-yard line. There was still a good chance the stout Arizona defense could have held. 

Secondly, Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu was called for roughing the passer on the play. Even if Arians wins the challenge, the Eagles are still going to get 15 yards and a first down. 

Not surprisingly, the call stood and Arians had to go through the next two and a half quarters without any challenges. That's a big risk to take in a game that pivotal and it far outweighed what Arians would have gained if he won the challenge. 

Falcons hand the Lions a game nobody wanted to win

London fans were treated to an authentic football experience between Detroit and Atlanta on Sunday. So authentic, in fact, that Mike Smtih and the Falcons put on display one of their patented late game meltdowns. 

The Falcons led the game 21-0 at one point in the second half before the Lions came storming back. Detroit cut the deficit to 21-19, but Atlanta was still in great shape with two minutes left to play. 

They had the ball with a first down at the Detroit 40 and the Lions were down to their final timeout. Worst case scenario for the Falcons here should be that they could run the clock all the way to about 20 seconds left before having to punt it back to Detroit deep in their own end. Best case scenario was a first down ends the game. 

Still, the Falcons are no ordinary team and they quickly started doing their best to help the Lions. On second down, they were called for offensive holding, something you can't do under any circumstances in that situation. It stops the clock and it's so unnecessary. Gaining yards isn't as important as keeping the clock rolling in that instance, even if it means a lineman has to put his hands behind his back if that's what it takes to not attract the official's attention. 

That blunder saved the Lions 40 seconds and got the Falcons panicking. They ran a risky pass play on third down which Julio Jones dropped. To that point, they saved Detroit almost 1:20 and had to punt. 

Despite all that, the Lions started from their own seven with 1:38 to play and no timeouts, still needing a field goal to win. If you've watched any Detroit football this season, you know kicking a field goal from anywhere on the field is anything but a guarantee. 

The Lions managed to drive to the edge of field-goal range in a hurry-up offense. With 34 seconds left, Joique Bell ran for one yard on second down to the Atlanta 30 and the Lions had no way to stop the clock other than with a spike. Not to worry, though, as for some insane reason the Falcons called a timeout with 25 seconds left. 

Detroit, curiously, came back with another run on third down, forcing their field-goal unit to race onto the field in a frenzy with the clock moving to try and kick a long field goal before time expired. However, the Falcons came to the rescue again as Paul Soliai was called for defensive holding, stopping the clock. 

At that point, it looked like just about the entire Falcons organization had Detroit in their survivor pool and they were doing everything they could to help the Lions win. Still, Detroit wasn't about to make it easy on them. 

Matt Prater missed a 43-yard game-winning field-goal attempt, but the Lions were called for delay of game. Even though Prater had to kick from 48, it was a fortunate penalty for Detroit since he missed the previous kick. Prater made good on the second try, giving the Lions an improbable win. 

Hopefully the tape of the final two minutes in this one is saved and used as a teaching resource so future generations can learn exactly what not to do in every aspect of the closing moments of a tight game.