Falcons QB Desmond Ridder Leaves Strong Final Impression in Win vs. Bucs

The final start of the season Desmond Ridder ended with a win for the Atlanta Falcons.

The Atlanta Falcons are going out on a high, ending their season with a 30-17 win over the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

The Falcons put it together on both sides of the ball against a Bucs team that took out their starters just minutes before halftime. 

The fourth and final start of the season for Desmond Ridder may go down as his strongest showing. The University of Cincinnati alum completed 19 of his 30 passes for a career-high 224 yards and two touchdowns. 

His first drive of the day ended with a sack as the Falcons' offense was off the field in three plays. 

Yet as he has in the past, Ridder improved as the game went on.

The rookie led the offense on a 91-yard drive in nine plays as he found his tight end MyCole Pruitt for his first-career touchdown pass. He would find a similar result later in the game, finding Olamide Zaccheaus for his second touchdown pass, giving the Falcons a 20-17 lead in the third quarter. 

Ultimately not making the playoffs is disappointing; the future looks bright for the Falcons. Atlanta seems to have a young nucleus with running back Tyler Allgeier, wide receiver Drake London, and even Ridder leading the way to two straight wins to end the season. 

The biggest question is the status of the rookie signal-caller Ridder. He took over as the starter after sitting behind Marcus Mariota for the first 13 games, giving him four games to make an impression and an impression he made. 

As the starter, the Falcons finished 2-2, with close losses to the New Orleans Saints and the Baltimore Ravens. While they managed to find wins versus the Arizona Cardinals and the Buccaneers.

Will it be enough for another season as the starter? We will know for sure come April when the Falcons could be in a position to take a quarterback if they want one. 

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