Shocking moment Atlanta Falcons’ Matthew Judon appears to smack rival fan’s phone after being heckled
Atlanta Falcons pass rusher Matthew Judon appeared to have retaliated to a rival fan’s trash talk in shocking fashion Sunday.
The Falcons’ playoff hopes took a blow Sunday night as Atlanta slipped to a 30-24 defeat to the Washington Commanders in overtime in Week 17.
But tensions already appeared to be running high before the high-stakes clash even kicked off.
Judon was caught appearing to smack a fan’s phone out of their home after they trolled him from the sidelines.
In a video shared to social media, the Falcons players could be seen exiting the field and heading towards the tunnel after wrapping up their pregame warm ups.
Matthew Judon appeared to have retaliated to a rival fans’ trash talk in shocking fashion
The pass rusher seemed to smack a fan’s phone after being heckled on the sidelines
Washington Commanders fans could be heard from off-camera calling out firstly to Judon’s teammate Josh Woods.
The linebacker turned back and shouted something intelligible at the spectators after they called out at him but kept on heading towards the tunnel.
Judon followed close behind him, but didn’t manage to keep his cool as successfully. Chewing his mouth guard, the outside linebacker lurched towards the group of fans, sticking his face in the camera.
He then escalated the situation further as he seemingly hit the phone in one fan’s hand, which was filming the incident, causing the footage to become disorientated.
The fan laughed off the incident, while Judon appeared to have continued to make his exit from the field.
Judon went on to register four tackles and one sack on Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, which set up second-and-30 for Washington.
However, his efforts were ultimately to no avail as the Falcons suffered a loss at Northwest Stadium after head coach Raheem Morris mismanaged the clock multiple times.
Morris declined to use all three of his timeouts at the end of the first half before settling for a field goal. He had two left in the waning minutes of regulation before Riley Patterson tried a 56-yard field goal attempt with two seconds left that fell short.
The linebacker sacked Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels
The loss provided a boost to their NFC South rivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who defeated the Carolina Panthers earlier in the day.
Atlanta is now left needing help from elsewhere in the league to make it to the postseason with one game of the regular season remaining.
The Falcons can only make the playoffs if they manage to beat the Carolina Panthers Sunday and the Buccaneers are bested by the New Orleans Saints.
If the Saints can’t deliver then Judon and his Falcons teammates will be starting their offseason early.
