It’s Week 6 of the 2023 NFL season and the 2-3 Washington Commanders will be facing a 3-2 Falcons team in Atlanta.
After winning its first two games, Washington has lost its last three, it’s most recent against one of the worst teams in the league. They’re looking to win against Atlanta as they risk losing control of their season if they can’t right the ship.
I asked Kevin Knight of the Falcoholic five questions to understand more about the state of the Falcons and what to look for in the game.
Bet on this one and the rest of Sunday’s NFL slate at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
1) The Falcons last had a winning record 6 years ago and reached the Super Bowl 7 years ago (how time flies!). Considering the front office, coaching staff, and roster, does it feel as though the franchise is headed toward becoming a consistent playoff team? What are the most important priorities to work on at this point?
It’s a little early to know if this team will be consistent (at anything), but this has been a long rebuilding process. I’m of the mind that they’re building this the right way for long-term success. General manager Terry Fontenot spent two years cleaning up the salary cap mess left by Thomas Dimitroff, along with acquiring additional draft assets through a series of trades. As a result, this team finally had significant free agent spending money in 2023 and will be even better off in 2024. They’ve also got three Day 2 picks (either two 2nds or two 3rds, depending on if Calvin Ridley gets an extension with the Jaguars) lined up in 2024. In terms of priorities, we’re still waiting to see if Desmond Ridder can be the answer at quarterback. Week 5 featured Ridder’s best career game, as he absolutely carved up the Texans and looked like the best offensive player for Atlanta. Prior to that, he had two of the worst QB games of anyone in the NFL in 2023. Until that spot is figured out, everything else is just window dressing.
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
2) Desmond Ridder lasted until the third round of the draft, and he has always been a controversial prospect. (Washington fans know all about that kind of situation.) Young QBs always require patience and it’s early, but so far does Ridder look like he could be the franchise QB that Atlanta fans want? What are his strengths and weaknesses at this point?
The early returns on Ridder have been extremely inconsistent. Prior to Week 5, many fans were calling for him to be benched in favor of Taylor Heinicke. That’s probably a familiar sentiment for Washington fans! Ridder responded to the adversity with his best ever game, absolutely carving up the Texans and overcoming a series of horrid mistakes by the rest of the offense (two fumbles lost by others and two egregious penalties that took away FG attempts). It’s simply too early to tell on Ridder, but his Week 5 performance definitely bought him some additional time. In terms of strengths, Ridder generally wants to be aggressive with the ball and has pretty good accuracy and zip on the intermediate throws. In college, he was excellent at pre-snap diagnosis and figuring out where to go with the ball early in the rep, along with limiting turnovers. Prior to last week, Ridder led the NFL in turnover-worthy plays and was struggling to read the field. Then, it seemed to click last week, and Ridder turned in his first truly great game. So…I guess the answer remains “we’ll see”.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
3) The offense has a lot of weapons for Ridder – two excellent running backs plus London, Pitts, and Smith as wide receivers and tight ends. What else does the offense need to develop into a consistently productive, high scoring unit?
Strangely enough, the issue right now is an extremely inconsistent offensive line. The OL was the backbone of the team in 2022, capable of opening up holes in the running game against anyone and pass protecting at a better level than expected. This year, it’s been hot-and-cold. We’ve seen some dominant performances against great defensive lines (Green Bay in Week 2, over 200 rushing yards) and mediocre performances against weak run defenses (Houston in Week 5). The pass protection has also been awful at times, most notably in Weeks 1 and 3 where Ridder got absolutely annihilated. Thankfully, pass protection seems to have stabilized over the past two games even with right tackle Kaleb McGary exiting midway through the Texans game. His replacement, Storm Norton, filled in admirably last week. We’ll see if that can continue against Washington’s lauded front seven.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
4) The defense has many fewer players who receive national attention than the offense. Tell us about the defense – who are its leaders, what is the scheme, and where do teams attack it most successfully?
The Falcons defense has actually been the bright spot through five games. It has blown pretty much everyone’s mind, but Atlanta’s much-maligned defense has been awesome thus far: currently, the Falcons are 10th in scoring defense, 7th in total yardage allowed, 7th in yards per play allowed, 7th in passing yardage allowed, and 13th in yards per carry allowed. And that’s with an extremely turnover-prone offense (7 giveaways thus far) and with games against the Lions (4th scoring offense), Texans (13th), and Packers (14th) under their belt. Put simply, this unit is way better than anyone expected. It’s headlined by veteran safety Jessie Bates III and cornerback A.J. Terrell in the secondary and a dynamic interior defensive line duo featuring Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata. It’s not a star-studded unit, and they’ve struggled to turn a lot of pressure into sacks thus far (just 5 on the season), but this is an aggressive, well-coached, and deep defense with a very high floor. They’ve given Atlanta’s offense every opportunity to win, week in and week out. That’s all we’ve ever asked!
5) Special teams are on the field a lot, but don’t receive much attention. How good are the Falcon’s special teams?
The Falcons punting and kicking units are both excellent, with Bradley Pinion and Younghoe Koo among the NFL’s best and most consistent at their respective positions. Atlanta’s return game took a major hit in the summer with star returner Avery Williams—who led the NFL in punt return average in 2022—going on season-ending IR. Cordarrelle Patterson has only just returned from his own injury issues, and as such, Atlanta’s starting field position has been abysmal thus far. Hopefully things improve with Patterson’s return.
Bonus question: DraftKings Sportsbook has the Falcons as 2.5 point favorites. What’s your score prediction?
The Falcons have been a very inconsistent team offensively, but one thing they’ve been consistent at is winning at home. Desmond Ridder is 5-0 at home in the NFL and 26-0 at home in college. Given Washington’s defensive struggles and weakness against the run, this is a matchup that the Falcons are rightly favored in. I’ll go with Atlanta, 27-23.
Thanks again to Kevin for taking time out of his day to answer our questions about the Falcons. Check out his answers to my questions here!