Five things learned from Falcons’ win over Buccaneers

FLOWERY BRANCH – After drop-kicking the Buccaneers and their backups 30-17 on Sunday, the Falcons head into the offseason with a 7-10 record and a belief that better days are in their future.

“As a team, I think we were assignment-sound on a lot of things,” Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom said. “We were able to establish the run and sustain that success. I think outside of the Rams game, we were able to run for over 100 yard in every single game.”

The Falcons found two new offensive weapons in rookies Drake London and Tyler Allgeier and perhaps their quarterback of the future in Desmond Ridder. London, a wide receiver and the eighth overall pick in the 2022 draft, finished with 72 catches to set a new franchise record. Allgeier, a fifth-round pick, rushed for 1,035 yards to break William Andrew’s 43-year old rookie rushing record of 1,023 set in 1979. Ridder went 2-2 as a starter in his four-game audition.

“Tyler had an incredible season and finished up really strong,” Lindstrom said. “Des did a great job in trying to protect him in the communication. I think there are a lot of things to build on going forward.”

Here are five things we learned from the victory:

1. Ridder and the future: Ridder played all 64 offensive snaps against the Buccaneers.

Ridder played 271 offensive snaps over his four starts. The former Cincinnati signal-caller completed 73 of 115 passes (63.5%) for 708 yards and two touchdowns.

Perhaps the best thing he did was take care of the football as he didn’t throw any interceptions. However, he did have a couple near interceptions in the New Orleans game.

The Falcons weren’t putting much stock in that Ridder’s best work was done against the Bucs’ backups.

“It’s the National Football League,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “You know how hard it is to make a roster in the National Football League? You want to talk about their starters, put that one drive together. I thought he operated. "

Ridder did have a bizarre fumble.

“The one turnover on a little quick issue there on a protection thing,” Smith said.

Smith was generally pleased with Ridder’s audition.

“So there’s a lot of things – red zone, third down, fourth down, and I think we’ve seen that the last four weeks,” Smith said. “There’s a lot to learn from, and (I’m) pretty pleased. We’ve got a long way to go before we make any decisions in the offseason, but there’s a lot you can learn from this.”

2. Allgeier’s big season: Going into the Tampa Bay game, Allgeier averaged 116 scrimmage yards in the previous three outings.

He rushed 24 times for 135 yards. In the 2022 draft class, his 1,035 yards were second only to Seattle rookie Kenny Walker, who rushed for 1,050 yards on 228 carries and scored nine touchdowns to help themit reach the playoffs.

Allgeier had 220 carries and rushed for three touchdowns and did not have a fumble.

Walker was taken in the second-round, 41st overall. Allgeier was the 151st player taken in the draft. Walker and Allgeier were 1-2 in most yards after contact in college during the 2021 season. The Falcons were elated to get Allgeier in the fifth round.

“I was pretty pleased with the way he was trending, and then some of it sometimes as opportunities happened,” Smith said. “I don’t know if anybody was running the ball better than CP (Cordarrelle Patterson) was earlier in the year around the league.”

He suffered a knee injury that required surgery and a stint on injured reserve.

“It was an opportunity where Allgeier, I thought, stepped in and did a nice job,” Smith said. “So did Caleb Huntley. And I think he really took off. Some of those were by circumstance ... we had a lot of confidence when we took him out of BYU.”

3. Ridder to London: One of the takeaways from Ridder’s audition was his connection with London, who had six catches for 120 yards against the Bucs.

In the four games that Ridder started, London caught 25 of 36 targets for 333 yards.

“Just playing football and playing it to your highest level possible, not playing down to the opponents, not trying to overdo stuff, just playing how they drafted me to play,” London said.

London was not impressed with his new franchise record.

“I could have 30 catches and 200 yards in the season, if we’re in the playoffs I would be happier than I am right now,” London said. “I think we just have to stack wins on top of all that and I think I would be happy.”

London finished the season with 31 catches over the final five games.

“I think it was big,” London said. “We’re building right now. Building blocks for us as players to step up well. I think we’re on the right track for that.”

4. Defensive help needed: The Buccaneers opened the game with a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive.

That drive kind of solidified the fact that the Falcons will be looking for help on the defensive side of the ball.

The Falcons need to find some more help for Grady Jarrett up front and another cornerback to play alongside the hard-hitting A.J. Terrell.

Also, defensive coordinator Dean Pees, who’s 73, retired on Monday so they’ll be working under new leadership.

After Pees vowed to change the culture, the defensive finished in the bottom half of the league in four key categories – total yards allowed (362.1, 27th of 32), rushing yards allowed (130.2, 23rd), passing yards allowed (231.9, 25th) and points scored (22.7, 23rd).

5. Closing out with two wins: The win over Tampa Bay only cost the Falcons one spot in the draft as they went from seventh to eighth.

But this 7-10 season is much different than last season’s 7-10 mark, according to Smith.

“Well, last year you talk about the first year in transition,” Smith said. “Talked about it earlier in the week, some of the obstacles as we tried to set the foundation, some things we were limited with. We had a little more of a veteran team.

“We had some guys that have been here a long time. We had some rookies that were playing for the first time, and then we had some guys that were first-year that are no longer with us. That was out of necessity where we were to fill out a roster.”

Smith tipped his hat to the first-year players.

“Those guys gave us everything they had,” Smith said. “It was a little bit different team, but we had a little more veteran presence when it got into close games.”

The roster was churned for the 2022 season, which also included on moving on from long-time quarterback Matt Ryan and middle linebacker Deion Jones.

“This year, add to the rookie class of a year ago, we add another group,” Smith said. “Got some guys that I think aren’t necessarily at the end of their careers that are on some one-year deals that (we’ve) been pretty pleased with. We’ll continue to evaluate that. You can feel a little more foundation and identity, especially up front.”

Smith believes the Falcons fixed their offensive line, which had been a major reason for the team’s declined under former coach Dan Quinn.

“The offensive line, I thought, week in and week out, they rose to the occasion.” Smith said. “They were knocking people off the ball. If we wanted to run it, we could.”

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Atlanta Falcons 2022 results

Sept. 11 Saints 27, Falcons 26

Sept. 18 Rams 31, Falcons 27

Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23

Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20

Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15

Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14

Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17

Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT

Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17

Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15

Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24

Nov. 27 Commanders 19, Falcons 13

Dec. 4 Steelers 19, Falcons 16