Greg Auman
NFC South Reporter
Arthur Smith’s Falcons have lost three in a row, and led in the final minute of the past two games, so their bye week is well-timed. It’s almost like a timeout during a bad run in a basketball game — a pause, a reset, a chance to catch your breath and try to change directions.
Three weeks ago, Atlanta was in first place in the NFC South, with the confidence of knowing they didn’t face a single opponent with a winning record the rest of the way. They’ve now lost three straight games against those teams, so their confidence must come from somewhere else.
“The good news is we’re not dead,” Smith said Monday. “We have a chance to salvage the season or do something about it. Whatever the odds are, we can use this time to get away, try to find solutions, and come back in here and do everything we can to beat New Orleans.”
Atlanta (4-6) is only a game back in a middling division, and its next game is against the division-leading Saints, who are wobbly themselves after falling behind 27-3 to the Vikings in what ended up a 27-19 loss going into their own bye. Both teams lost starting quarterbacks to injury Sunday, and while New Orleans has made it clear that Derek Carr remains their starter, the Falcons have made no such declarations between Taylor Heinicke and Desmond Ridder.
Heinicke, in his second game taking over as starter for Ridder, went down with a low-grade hamstring injury, and Ridder rallied the team with a touchdown run for the lead with 2:08 to go. Ridder has 12 turnovers this season — six interceptions and six lost fumbles — but to hear Smith, he has likely earned another chance to lead this team.
“He came back, worked on it and obviously played pretty well,” Smith said. “Everybody’s different, but I think what you saw with Des, what was very encouraging, was that’s tough for anybody as a young player in his career. And he has had success. … But we needed to get the…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/falcons-coach-arthur-smith-sees-a-turnaround-after-three-close-losses
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Publish date : 2023-11-15 17:00:59
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