Quarterback Desmond Ridder was not scheduled to play for the Falcons on Sunday.
However, in Week 10 starter Taylor Heinicke injured his hamstring in the second half of the loss to Arizona, forcing Ridder to fill in.
He ended up completing 4 of 6 passes for 39 yards and acquitted himself with a 9-yard go-ahead touchdown to give Atlanta a 23-22 lead with 2:33 left in the game.
The Falcons lost on Matt Prater’s walk-off 23-yard field goal. But Ridder’s play gave head coach Arthur Smith something to think about during the bye week.
Coach Smith said he doesn’t want the team’s quarterback situation to continue week-to-week even when Atlanta returns from vacation. He said after Sunday’s loss that Ridder’s play “will definitely have an impact.”
“We have to make a decision. Like I said, Des did a great job coming back,” Smith said in a press conference. “I thought he was kind of reset. If he had to go into the second play of the game with this preparation, we trusted him. He didn’t flinch. There was no. He gave us a chance to win.”
Smith later added that it was “definitely encouraging” to see Ridder play like he did.
“He was calm and very confident,” Smith said. “If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have pulled the ball out there.” [on his touchdown run], you can say that. That play says a lot because it would have been really easy to give him the ball if he didn’t want to have it in his hands.
“That’s one of the ratings I can give you just for stating the obvious. And not living in fear of him, that’s when the ball popped out against Tampa and basically It’s essentially the same play.”
The Saints are in first place with a 5-5 record, while the Falcons are still in contention in the NFC South at 4-6. Atlanta hosts New Orleans after a Week 12 bye.