3 Goals in Atlanta Falcons meaningless season finale

1. Arthur Smith must protect his veterans

Cordarrelle Patterson, Grady Jarrett, Jake Matthews, and A.J. Terrell are all established players who are going to take little to nothing away from this game. There is zero doubt that all four want to be out there competing and playing in this game. While perhaps going so far as to bench all four would be a mistake sometimes you have to protect players from themselves.

Atlanta is playing a game that means nothing to the franchise or to their future. They are getting ready for an off-season with the cap space and draft picks to make a playoff push and solid pieces on the roster to build around. To some extent, Arthur Smith needs to protect those pieces limiting their snaps and their risks in this game. While that might be impossible for Jake Matthews looking at the Atlanta offensive line there are plenty of depth options Smith can utilize to protect his players heading into next season.