Atlanta Falcons blowout loss a wake up to start Ridder

The Atlanta Falcons dropped to 3-4 on the season in a 35-17 loss to the Bengals in a game that was completely dominated by the Bengals’ offense. There are two stories in this game that should be getting the focus with the first being the obvious secondary injuries that left Atlanta forced to send out the bottom portion of their depth chart at corner and safety.

Atlanta’s injuries continued to mount throughout the game and left little reason to believe this team had a chance against Joe Burrow. Burrow was on pace to set the NFL record for passing yards and if his offense didn’t take their foot off the pedal in the second half likely would have.

Burrow finished with 481-passing yards and 20-rushing yards with a 4-combined touchdowns in an impressive game that reminded the league just how dominant the Bengals can be.

The second biggest takeaway from this game should be what many have known for seven weeks now. Marcus Mariota isn’t a starting quarterback in this league and should be benched in favor of Ridder. The Atlanta coaching staff was down three scores and showed zero faith that Mariota could complete passes with any consistency.

Atlanta did hit on one deep ball before the half that gave Mariota the majority of his production. However, Mariota is consistently showing he isn’t capable of making NFL reads with any consistency. Standing far too long in the pocket and taking sacks when the ball should have been out long before the defense made it in the backfield. Atlanta’s receivers are more than capable of getting open against the man coverage they are often facing but Mariota isn’t able to deliver the football and his receivers and coaches know it.

With a bad Carolina team next up on the schedule now is the time the Falcons need to turn to rookie Desmond Ridder and give the team a chance to make a push for the division lead.