There was a stark contrast between the Falcons’ offensive possessions in the first and second half of Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers. Quarterback Matt Ryan completed his first six passes and led a scoring drive on the first possession, something the team hasn’t done in a while.
Then, the second half happened. That explosive offense disappeared, and the defense from the first five games of the season returned. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley, like the rest of us, doesn’t seem to understand how this keeps happening to Atlanta.
“I don’t know, man,” Ridley said after the Falcons’ 31-17 loss, “I don’t know — they played better in the second half.”
Usually when you see a team go 4-10, there are rumblings of players being unhappy or wanting to leave. That just hasn’t been the case with this Falcons team over the past few years, though.
“The way we talk in the locker room, we still got our spirits up, we are not this 4-10 team,” stated a frustrated Ridley. “We know we’re better, we just haven’t been finishing.”
Despite Atlanta’s woes in the waning moments of games, Ridley also mentioned himself when discussing ways the team can get better in those critical moments.
Ridley was held to 33 yards over the Falcons’ final five possessions. On those same five possessions, the offense only managed three total points. For the game, Ridley had 10 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown.
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