The Falcons asked their quarterback to win them a game in rainy conditions on Sunday, but Desmond Ridder couldn’t get it done.
Ridder moved the Falcons into the red zone with a 7-6 lead halfway through the fourth quarter in Charlotte and the team called a pass play on second-and-10 from the Carolina 18-yard-line. Ridder rolled to his left and threw back toward the middle of the field, which proved to be a bad choice as the ball went directly to Panthers safety Xavier Woods. The Panthers wouldn’t give the ball up as they drove for a game-winning field goal as time expired.
“I was trying to get back inside,” Ridder said, via the team’s website. “Any time you’re throwing late over the middle, it’s probably not a good idea. I was trying to make a play, and I tried to do too much.”
It wasn’t the only negative play of the day for the Falcons. Running back Bijan Robinson lost a fumble and the offense only managed 204 yards against a one-win team, but the 16th turnover of the season for Ridder still stood out because it was the latest sign that the belief the Falcons placed on Ridder heading into this year was grounded in hope rather than performance.
A tight NFC South race is going to be decided on moments like Sunday’s interception and Ridder has failed to come through in enough of them that it is hard to believe the Falcons will be exiting the season with anything close to the certainty at quarterback they had this spring.
