LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Raheem Morris and the Atlanta Falcons missed five timeouts, and they may have a longer chance to reflect on those mistakes.

The Falcons ran out of time to control their own path to the playoffs after mismanaging time multiple times in a 30-24 overtime loss to the Washington Commanders. They needed a win to create a win-and-get-in situation in the regular season finale, and now Tampa Bay is in the driver’s seat in the race for the NFC South title.

Morris refused to use all three of his timeouts at the end of the first half before settling for a field goal. He had two balls left in the final minutes of regulation before Riley Patterson attempted a 56-yard field goal with two seconds left, but it fell short.

The first-year coach admitted he “probably could have scored” after Michael Penix Jr. connected with Darnell Mooney on a 25-yard completion with 40 seconds left. Instead, the clock was reduced to 17 seconds because he was “trying to save that timeout.”

“In hindsight it could have been a better decision to take that time out, but I wanted the opportunity to move up so you can always question these things,” Morris said after his team’s loss that gave the Commanders their ticket withdrawn for participation in the playoffs. “I can still question these motives. I can always go back and see if they could have grabbed it a little quicker. But I really think we can shorten our operation time a little bit and save that time off.”

Questionable coaching plagued the Falcons again, including a near-total abandonment of the running game that left Washington in trouble for much of the first half. By a minute before halftime, Bijan Robinson had 13 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns, and the rest of the way he only got the ball four more times for 8 yards.

Penix, the rookie quarterback selected with the eighth pick and making his second NFL start, pointed out that a three-and-out in the third quarter was the culprit for Atlanta’s unbalance. The Commanders had the ball for 12:53 and the Falcons for just 2:07 of the third period.

“We didn’t really have much ball,” said Penix, who was 19 of 35 for 223 yards, a touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts and an interception. “I think we ran three plays. We just had to sustain drives. We can’t score points every time we step on the field and that could have resulted in us going one way or the other.

The Falcons had a chance to take a 21-7 lead at halftime instead of 17-7, although Morris defended his strategy to not give Jayden Daniels and Co. the chance to win the ball back: “Made the field goal . Got.” dodge.”

Penix told Morris the timing of the timeouts.

“That’s because of Coach Raheem,” Penix said. “He takes time off whenever he feels fit. He trusted us to follow through on the plays and make the next play. We all trust the coach’s judgment in that regard, so we’ll lean on that.”

The Falcons will now have to lean on New Orleans to beat Tampa Bay. After five losses in seven games, they need that and a win against Carolina to make the playoffs.

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