Falcon Report

Falcons Fall vs. Saints: 3 Observations from Atlanta's Week 15 Loss

The Atlanta Falcons' path to the playoff looks much dimmer after a road loss to the hands of the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Riley Sheppard

Heading into Week 15 at 5-8 and a chance to keep their playoff hopes alive, that hope may be all but gone for the Atlanta Falcons. 

Following a 21-18 loss against the New Orleans Saints, the Falcons now sit at 5-9 and in the outside looking in at the playoff picture. 

Here are three observations from Atlanta's Week 15 loss...

Desmond Ridder's Debut

While the third-round pick certainly did not expect his NFL debut to start off the way it did, Ridder can officially mark off this highly anticipated career milestone. 

The former Cincinnati Bearcat finished his start with 13 of 26 for 96 yards passing to go along with another 38 yards rushing. 

Despite not reaching the endzone, Ridder still made a handful of winning plays down the stretch. 

Most notably, a great throw to fellow rookie Drake London with less than two minutes to go that could have been a Falcon first down had it not been knocked out of London's hands. 

With three games remaining in the season, Ridder will look to continue improving on a respectable debut.

Defense Digs Early Hole

As mentioned earlier, the offense barely had any time to blink before looking at a massive deficit. 

Within less than two minutes, the game went from being scoreless to a 14-point hole. Saints quarterback Andy Dalton found tight end Juwan Johnson for a 19-yard touchdown. Then, Taysom Hill led a trick play that ended in a 68-yard touchdown to wide receiver Rashid Shaheed.

Despite allowing two scores in the early going, the unit played some stout defense the rest of the way - only allowing one more score the remaining 58 minutes. 

However, it was too big of a hole to dig out of with a rookie quarterback behind center with neither unit ever finding its footing. 

Tyler Allgeier's Career Day

The rookie running back has stepped in seamlessly with injuries impacting Cordarrelle Patterson hampered with injuries this season. 

And this week was no different, with Allgeier exploding for a new career-high 139 yards on 17 carries and a rushing score. 

Heading into the contest as Atlanta's leading rusher, the 22-year-old fifth round pick had yet to eclipse the 100-yard plateau heading into the game but cleared that mark by just his tenth carry against New Orleans. 

The rookie backs lone score came at the beginning stages of the second half - punching it in on third and three from the five-yard-line. 

The Falcons are back in action Saturday on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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Riley Sheppard
RILEY SHEPPARD

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