Will this be Desmond Ridder's final start for the Atlanta Falcons?

Watching Desmond Ridder and the Atlanta Falcons offense has been painful from the start outside of a comeback stretch against the Green Bay Packers the unit has struggled badly. There is plenty of blame to go around with the pass protection, schemes, run game, and receivers all struggling at times in this Atlanta Falcons offense.

However, the main issue has been Desmond Ridder failing to develop and making far too many mistakes, and missing open receivers. It has been difficult to watch a young player struggle that should have been given a chance to play far sooner last season.

Going back to Atlanta to take on Houston there is a healthy level of pressure on Desmond Ridder and the obvious looming question of will Ridder be the quarterback in week six? While the Falcons should obviously replace Ridder if there is a third straight game as ugly as what we have seen the last two weeks the answer is no.

Arthur Smith complimented Desmond Ridder's second-half performance and made it clear that no quarterback change was considered. It is worth noting here that this second-half improvement was against soft zone coverage and still failed to score ten points. Ridder was about as awful as a quarterback can be and his head coach defended him and made it clear the team isn't considering a change.

This has been a concerning trend with Arthur Smith with Marcus Mariota, Jalen Mayfield, and Franks standing out as the most obvious examples. Smith is stubborn once he sets a starting lineup or a contributor to the roster. Even when the player obviously isn't getting the job done Smith has stuck with them for far too long and it has cost the team.

Atlanta Falcons fans have a better chance of seeing Desmond Ridder improve than they do of seeing a quarterback change on Sunday or in the coming weeks. While it is the wrong decision for the Falcons and Arthur Smith, Desmond Ridder is going to be this team's quarterback until the wheels fall off.

This mentality has been one that has cost the Falcons each of the past two seasons and one you would hope Arthur Smith would adjust. However, Atlanta's best path to turning the season around is Desmond Ridder making improvements, not a quarterback change that would clearly help but is unlikely to come.