Can the Falcons hit the 30-point mark Sunday at Carolina?
FLOWERY BRANCH — Maybe this will be the breakout game and the Falcons will reach the 30-point mark for the first time this season.
The Falcons have been piling up the yards, but not scoring the points.
The offense will be the X-factor when the Falcons (6-7) face the Panthers (1-12) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
The Falcons are one of three teams with five games of 400 yards or more this season, but the yards often have not led to the end zone. For various reasons, they’ve been yards to nowhere: a 6-7 record and an outside view of the playoffs with four games to play.
In 47 games under coach Arthur Smith, who’s the play-caller, the Falcons have scored more than 30 points once. They beat the Panthers 37-34 last season in overtime Oct. 30, with Marcus Mariota at quarterback.
Ridder led the Falcons to 30-17 win over Tampa Bay on Jan. 8 in the 2022 regular-season finale.
The Falcons scored 30 points twice in Smith’s first season, with Matt Ryan at quarterback. They lost 34-30 to Washington on Oct. 3, 2021 and beat Miami 30-28 on Oct. 24.
“I’ve been able to go out there and play good games and then throughout the games, there’s one or two games where something goes wrong and there’s a mistake,” Ridder said. “Then it’s how do you respond. I feel like every time that a mistake has happened, I’ve responded the right way.”
On the Falcons’ opening drive against the Bucs last week, Ridder tossed an errant pass to a wide-open Bijan Robinson. He would have waltzed into the end zone.
The struggle for consistency has plagued the offense all season.
“So, not only myself, but everyone on every single play has to be ready to go and be able to stay consistent throughout the entire game,” Ridder said.
The Falcons don’t feel they are that far from an offensive explosion.
“To me, to get to where want to be, we have to all have a shared accountability,” Smith said. “We have to have a sense of that, that it matters to do our job, to do it well. (There’s a) fine line of a couple plays here where we all can improve on, and we feel that. To me, that’s when we’ll take the next step.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
