Falcons QB Desmond Ridder Picks Up First Career Victory, Leads Game-Winning Drive

Desmond Ridder picked up his first win as the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in the 20-19 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

The Atlanta Falcons fell short in their first two games with rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder, but without pressure of needing a win to keep playoff hopes alive, Ridder found a way to lead Atlanta against the Arizona Cardinals in a 20-19 victory.

The Falcons' offense found the end zone twice in the first half as they jumped to a 14-10 lead in the second quarter. That start was an improvement from a week ago when Atlanta struggled to score touchdowns. 

After showing improvement from his first start against the New Orleans Saints to his second start against the Baltimore Ravens, Ridder continued the upward progression trend. 

The rookie signal-caller completed 19 of his 26 passes for 169 yards in a game where the Falcons offense featured a balanced attack. Despite not breaking the 200-yard mark as he did a week ago, the Falcons rushed for 132 yards on 34 attempts. The successful rushing attack proved to be a difference-maker down the stretch. 

After three straight punts started the second half for the Falcons offense, they would lean on that ground game to help set them up for a field goal that gave them back the lead early in the fourth quarter. 

Yet, the Cardinals weren't finished, as they gained 36 yards on 11 plays to set up a 57-yard field goal by Matt Prater, which set the scene for Ridder and the Falcons offense, down 19-17 with under five minutes remaining.

Ridder has been in this position before; in his first start versus the Saints, a completion to Drake London was caught and then fumbled, securing the Saints a three-point victory. 

This time was different.

Ridder completed all three of his passes for 31 yards before three Tyler Allgeier runs to set up the game-winning Younghoe Koo field goal 

Ridder continues to make his case for being the starting quarterback long-term ahead of a pivotal offseason for the Falcons. 

The final start of the season for Ridder will come at home against the NFC South division-winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

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