FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — While a 7-9 record might carry the day in the NFC South this season, there is no clear path for the Atlanta Falcons to reach that mark after they kicked away a golden opportunity to defeat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

After losing 26-24, the Falcons dropped to 4-7 and are set to face Arizona (9-2), Green Bay (8-3) and Pittsburgh (7-4) over their next three games.

They also play at New Orleans, where they’ve lost three straight, and then end the season at home against Carolina.

There don’t appear to be three wins in the cards for the Falcons.

The blown opportunity against the Browns and the blown 21-point lead in London to the Detroit Lions figure to haunt the Falcons and possibly coach Mike Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff.

The Falcons don’t figure to fare much better against Arizona, which flogged them last season when they visited the Valley of the Sun.

The Falcons will have to be on top of their clock management. In both of the stunning loses, they have inexplicably stopped the clock for the other team, only to lose on a last-second field goal.

Against Cleveland, the Falcons faced a third-and-2 and called a timeout to get in the best play, Smith said. The play ended up being an incomplete pass to Devin Hester, the team’s fourth wide receiver.

“Well, we wanted to get our best play for third-and-2, to try and earn the first down,” Smith said. “That was our thought. We were right on the edge, in terms of where we wanted to be, in terms of field goal. We wanted to get a first down. The look that they gave us said to throw the ball; we did, and we didn’t convert it.”

The Falcons couldn’t stop Cleveland as they drove into field goal range with the extra time from the timeout.

“(There were) 44 seconds left in the ballgame. Our objectives were we knew they were playing for a field goal and it was going to be a challenge situation, especially when they got around the 50-yard line,” Smith said. “What we mean by challenge situation is that we were going to have to play a little tighter coverage. We needed to keep them out of field goal range, and that’s something that we did not do.”

Somehow, the Falcons need to pick up the pieces and move forward. Because the NFC South is so porous this season, the Falcons (4-7) still have a chance at a playoff spot.

“We’ve got to put this one behind us tonight and focus on winning next week,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “Really, at this point, I think it’s that simple. We can’t worry about all the other stuff that can happen or what has transpired up until this point. We really have to block that out.”

REPORT CARD VS. BROWNS

–PASSING OFFENSE: C — Matt Ryan completed 27 of 43 passes for 273 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The Browns dropped at least three other interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 86.7 and appeared out of sync with wide receiver Julio Jones, who missed practices on Wednesday and Thursday due to an illness. Jones, who was clearly off key, caught 5 of 13 targets for 68 yards and didn’t dominate his matchup with Browns cornerback Joe Haden. Roddy White was targeted 10 times and caught nine passes for 96 yards. Overall, the unit didn’t do enough damage on 27 catches for 273 yards.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: F — The Falcons figured they could get the rushing attack moving against the Browns, who were giving up more than 140 yards per game and were ranked 30th in the league. The Browns stuff the run even without linebacker Karlos Dansby. They overloaded the box and dared Ryan to throw. The longest run of the day was seven yards. The offensive line wasn’t able to open any holes in the running game. The running backs averaged just 2.6 yards per carry.

–PASS DEFENSE: D — The Browns passed for 322 yards, thanks to the return of wide receiver Josh Gordon. Safety Kemal Ishmael, cornerback Desmond Trufant and rookie safety Dezmen Southward all came up with interceptions. Ishmael led the defense with 11 tackles. When Robert McClain left the game with a calf injury, fifth cornerback Javier Arenas was pressed into duty. The Falcons weren’t able to mount much of a pass rush as they had just one sack and three quarterback hits.

–RUSH DEFENSE: F — The Browns rushed for 162 yards on 29 carries (5.6 per carry). Running back Isaiah Crowell ran 12 times for 88 yards and two touchdowns, and Terrance West had 14 carries for 62 yards. The defense started out strong but wore down as the game progressed. The Browns were persistent about running the ball. The old problem of missed tackles re-appeared on Crowell’s second touchdown run, when he weaved his way through traffic and poor arm tackles on his way to a 26-yard touchdown.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: B-minus — Matt Bryant is clutch. Matt Bosher averaged a net of 39.5 on four punts. He had one touchback and placed two punts inside the 20. Devin Hester nearly scored off the missed field goal right before halftime, but Kroy Biermann got in his way when he should have been looking to make a block.

–COACHING: F — Clock management was downright bizarre. The Falcons got cute when some simple math and football acumen was required. On third-and-2, they called timeout in order to get the best play, coach Mike Smith said. The play ended up being a bomb to the punt returner, which was incomplete. Roddy White said the offense was “confused” and that he wanted to “attack” after the Trufant interception.