The Falcons moved on from Arthur Smith because he decided to hitch his wagon to Desmond Ridder, and it resulted in another underwhelming 7-10 finish.
Smith’s offense had middling results despite having one of the better offensive lines in the league and three top 10 draft picks at skill positions. A lot of Falcons fans put the blame on Smith, and he deserves some of it, but most of Atlanta’s shortcomings were due to poor quarterback play.
Ridder was directly responsible for multiple losses last year, including the straw that broke the camel’s back in an excruciating loss to the lowly Panthers by a score of 9-7, in which Ridder threw an inexcusable interception in the red zone in the final minutes of the game. Bryce Young then went on to lead Carolina down the field to set up the game-winning field goal, effectively ending Atlanta’s postseason hopes.
This offseason was headlined by the Falcons’ search for a new head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback; I argued the latter of which was the most important one.
The club came out the other side with Raheem Morris, Zac Robinson, Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. Not only did the Falcons potentially fix the most important position in the sport for 2024, but they may have just fixed it for the next decade-plus.
If Falcons fans needed any more reason to be excited about the upcoming season, Cardinals fans and reporters are getting their first taste of Desmond Ridder during Arizona’s training camp, and one media pundit had a hilarious comment.
Jody Oehler is the host of a local radio station in Phoenix and tweeted, “Desmond Ridder’s training camp performance with the Cardinals makes me VERY bullish on the Atlanta Falcons.”
Desmond Ridder’s training camp performance with the Cardinals makes my VERY bullish on the Atlanta Falcons.
— Jody Oehler (@radiojody) July 29, 2024
Earlier this offseason, Desmond Ridder was traded to the Cardinals in exchange for Rondale Moore; both needed a change of scenery and were a part of a rare player-for-player trade, but it’s clearly not looking great for Ridder out in the desert.
The truth is that Desmond Ridder didn’t show enough in the four games during his rookie campaign for Arthur Smith to gift him the starting job for the Falcons last year without any competition.
Smith’s fate was directly tied to Ridder, and it cost him his job sticking by a third-round pick who had no business being a starter in this league. At least, Falcons fans can sit back and laugh about it now.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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