(AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Cleveland Browns star wideout Josh Gordon looked great in his first game of the year, grabbing eight catches for 120 yards in Cleveland’s 26-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons Sunday.

But if the Browns were looking to give a game ball to anyone, they should probably have headed down the hallway to the home locker room at the Georgia Dome and bequeathed one on Falcons head coach Mike Smith.

With Cleveland leading 23-21 with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter, the Falcons intercepted Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer on the second consecutive drive, giving Matt Ryan and the Atlanta offense the opportunity the opportunity to begin a potential game-winning drive from their own 45 with 2:42 remaining.

The Falcons drove the ball down to the Cleveland 35, just inside kicker Matt Bryant’s field goal range. With the Falcons facing a 3rd and 2 with less than a minute to play and the clock ticking, Smith inexplicably called a timeout.

It made no sense.

Stopping the clock had no benefit for the Falcons, as running it down before attempting another play would have limited Cleveland’s ability to have time on the clock for an offensive drive if Bryant’s inevitable field goal succeeded. If anything, it would have forced the Browns to burn at least one of their remaining three timeouts on defense rather than during an ensuing offensive drive.

But that didn’t happen. Nor did a run on 3rd and 2, which once again, would have allowed the Falcons to run off time before the field goal attempt or forced Cleveland to burn a timeout. Instead, Matt Ryan threw an incomplete pass towards Devin Hester, leaving Hoyer and the Browns 44 seconds and three timeouts for a final offensive drive after Bryant’s 53-yard field goal gave the Falcons a 24-23 lead.

The Browns quarterback used them efficiently, completing four out of five passes to drive the Browns to the Atlanta 19, spiking the ball with six seconds left to set up Billy Cundiff’s game-winning 37-yard field goal.

(Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)

Smith’s clock management skills were immediately mocked on Twitter, starting with former Browns CEO Joe Banner.

Even the Twitter account of one of the city’s many gentlemen’s clubs was calling for Smith’s head.

The amazing thing? If the New Orleans Saints lose to the Baltimore Ravens Monday night, the 4-7 Falcons will still own a first-place tiebreak in the woeful NFC South.

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