The Falcons lost to the Eagles on Thursday night because they couldn't score touchdowns in the red zone. That's how the game began, with a failed fourth-down run from the 1-yard line, and that's how the game ended, with an incompletion in the end zone. 

It's an issue that dates back to last season, which for the Falcons, ended with a failed red-zone series against the Eagles. If you fell asleep during that January game and woke up during the game Thursday night, you probably thought you were watching the same game. Last year, the Falcons ' season-ending loss ended with an incomplete pass from Matt Ryan to Julio Jones on the right side of the end zone. This year, the Falcons' season-opening loss ended with an incomplete pass from Ryan to Jones on the left side of the end zone. Slightly different versions of those plays, with very similar results, have happened countless other times over the past two years. 

On Friday morning, ESPN Stats & Info did the math for all of us. If you expected the stats to prove that we're actually just imagining how bad the Ryan-to-Jones connection in the end zone has been over the past couple years, you're going to be in for quite a surprise because it's actually worse than we ever could've imagined.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Ryan is 1 of 20 when he targets Jones in the end zone since 2016.

The best part is, someone went back and GIF'd (that's a verb, right?) most of those 20 plays. Cian Fahey, of PreSnapReads.com, created a Twitter thread that shows 17 of those targets. As that thread shows, it's not all Ryan's fault or Jones' fault. It's also offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian's fault for his play calling and play designs. 

The Falcons ranked 23rd in red-zone scoring percentage last year, scoring a touchdown on only 49 percent of their red-zone trips, which helps explain why they piled up the eighth-most yards but only the 15th-most points. The year before, when Kyle Shanahan was calling the plays before he left for San Francisco, the Falcons were second in yards, first in points, and eighth in red-zone scoring percentage.

After last season ended with another red-zone failure, Falcons coach Dan Quinn refused to blame his new offensive coordinator. And he defended him again on Thursday night.

But the fact remains, if someone has to go -- either as a scapegoat or for the sake of the Falcons' Super Bowl hopes -- it'll be Sarkisian. Ryan just signed a $150 million deal. Julio Jones is one of the best receivers in football. Sarkisian is expendable.