Desmond Ridder Explains How Falcons Bounce Back From Lions Loss

The Atlanta Falcons are going back to work after suffering their first loss of the season to the Detroit Lions.

The Atlanta Falcons suffered their first loss on Sunday on the road when facing the Detroit Lions. After their first two games, where the Falcons were able to overcome adversity to win games in crunch time, they could not garner much momentum inside Ford Field.

All the Falcons could muster against a stingy Lions defense was six points, both of which came via field goals from Younghoe Koo, as the offense punted six times while they had two drives end in scoring position (inside the opponent's 40-yard line), yet didn't manage to get off the field with points. 

It was the worst statistical game of second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder's season, as he was sacked a career-high seven times while completing 21 of his 38 passes for 201 yards, making it his second-lowest completion percentage and giving him the worst quarterback rating of his career at 11.1. 

The loss was a far cry from the prior two weeks, where the offense was able to turn around slow starts, yet even with the loss that dropped them to a 2-1 record, the Falcons' season goals haven't changed.

“Yeah, just coming back to work tomorrow," Ridder said about getting back on track. "We know where we want to be at the end of this season. We know what this team is supposed to look like, what we’re supposed to be, and through three weeks, we haven’t even skimmed the surface of what we’re supposed to be." 

Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (97) celebrates after linebacker Derrick Barnes (55) sacked Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder (9) during first half action Sunday, Sept. 24 2023 / USA Today

Teams never want to lose, but in a league where only one time in the history of the NFL has had a perfect season, an early loss like this one for the Falcons shouldn't be demoralizing. 

Rather it is a type of game that will send coach Arthur Smith and the team back to the drawing board as they try to figure out how to move forward.

"We haven’t even truly really played as a full team yet, whether it’s just defense doing what they need to do and creating turnovers and then offense just keeping it in the game," Ridder said. "It’s never been the defense is making turnovers, the stops and the offense is also going out there and putting up explosive – putting up points."