3 Things the Atlanta Falcons learned about Desmond Ridder in week five

3. Ridder played the first complete game of his career

This was Desmond Ridder's ninth start of his career and the first complete game we have seen from the quarterback. Ridder had his first career 300-passing-yard game and played far better than the stats indicated. Atlanta's offense was consistently hurt but turnovers and badly timed penalties and Desmond wasn't shaken.

Where in past weeks we would have seen Ridder press and make the killer mistake or stare his receivers into coverage this time Ridder was composed and made all the right decisions. Whether it was giving Drake London the chance to make the contested catch or getting Kyle Pitts rolling early there is so much good to take away from a quarterback that many would have benched a week ago.

While this week doesn't wipe away the two weeks of ugly play we watched for Desmond it does leave room for optimism that the Falcons have a capable quarterback. This is the player that Atlanta expected to have at quarterback from week one a point guard who is opportunistic and keeps the Atlanta offense on the field. If this version of Desmond continues to show up the Falcons are going to win a lot of games this season.