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          Sorry Atlanta -- With Braves' MLB playoff loss and Falcons' collapses, it's been a tough month

          • Jeremy Willis, ESPN.comOct 19, 2020, 01:49 PM ET

          We're so sorry, Atlanta. You probably don't deserve all this sports heartbreak and the sad memes and jokes that come with it.

          Yes, 28-3 was kind of the genesis of all this. The Atlanta Falcons blowing that big of a lead in Super Bowl LI to the New England Patriots will cast a pall over any sports town. It hit the Atlanta Braves over the weekend after they blew a 3-1 lead in the NLCS. Since Sept. 20, it has been a miserable 29 days.

          Here's what happened:

          Sept. 20: Dallas Cowboys 40, Atlanta Falcons 39

          The Falcons scored 39 points without a turnover. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, teams were 444-0 in that scenario since 1933. The Cowboys didn't lead until time expired and Greg Zuerlein's game-winning field goal went through the uprights.

          One tweet to describe it all:

          Sept. 25: Trae Young gets hacked

          It couldn't always be "Another day, another opportunity" tweets for the Atlanta Hawks star.

          Sept. 27: Chicago Bears 30, Atlanta Falcons 26

          The Falcons led 26-10 at the end of the third quarter. The Bears' much-talked-about backup QB Nick Foles came in and threw three touchdown passes and, like that, the Falcons had done it again.

          One tweet to describe it all:

          Oct. 11: The Falcons fire coach Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff

          The Falcons lost games to the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers before firing Quinn and Dimitroff. The pair built and managed the Falcons' Super Bowl team, but never did better than 10-6 in the three full seasons since that Super Bowl loss. Last year, the Falcons started 3-9 before winning the last four games. That kept Quinn and Co. around, but couldn't save them after five straight losses to start 2020.

          Oct. 14: Los Angeles Dodgers 15, Atlanta Braves 3

          The Braves won the first two games of the National League Championship Series and seemed to have the Dodgers on the ropes. The Dodgers were the best team in the shortened 2020 season and had a historic performance in Game 3 of the NLCS. They scored 11 runs in the first inning and saved their season.

          One tweet to describe it all:

          Oct. 18: Dodgers 4, Braves 3

          The Braves followed the Dodgers' 15-3 win with a 10-2 win in Game 4 and a 3-1 series lead. The 3-1 series lead is far from unbeatable. Across the NBA, NHL and MLB, 21 teams have overcome that deficit to win a series, before Sunday. Most recently, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series after being down 3-1. The Cleveland Cavaliers did the same to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. The Braves now join that group after losing three straight and missing a trip to the World Series.