BALTIMORE (AP) — In a season filled with narrow losses, the Atlanta Falcons saw their slim hopes of making the playoffs end by virtue of a chilling loss that got off to a familiar slow start and ended under coach Arthur Smith. talking again about the need for the team to show progress.
Between kickoff and the final whistle of their 17-9 setback against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, the Falcons were plagued with untimely penalties, a costly turnover and poor execution in the red zone.
The loss knocked Atlanta (5-10) out of playoff contention, a fate that seemed inevitable after the team plummeted after a 3-3 start. Sure, the Falcons have lost eight games by eight points or less, but that hasn’t made their current four-game skid any easier to bear.
“Ultimately, it’s about winning,” Smith said. “You can see the progress that is being made. But we have to find ways to play with an advantage. We have to find a way to overcome that hump.”
With rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder making his second NFL start, the Falcons went three-and-out on each of their first two possessions and had just 12 yards of offense during a first quarter played in freezing 17-degree weather. Baltimore built a 14-3 halftime lead and drove to the wire while holding Atlanta out of the end zone.
The referees did not help. In the last minute of the first half, an intentional ground call against Ridder while he was apparently being hit turned a first-and-goal at 1 into a rushing field goal as time expired.
Smith furiously objected to the bench call, but later opted to keep his comments, and the possible fine for criticizing the referees, to himself.
“I’d rather give that money to the people of Atlanta,” Smith said. “If they are going to fine me a lot of money, I prefer to give it to people who need it.”
Atlanta also got burned by a holding call on a third-quarter touchdown run that would have cut the deficit to 14-9, pending conversion. And there was a fumble by star receiver Drake London in the second quarter, which turned out to be the only turnover of the game.
Overall, the Falcons converted just five of 14 third-down attempts, going 0-for-4 on fourth down and failing to score a touchdown during four trips to the red zone.
“Situation football,” Ridder said. “At the end of the day, we go back and look at the red zone, third down and turnovers, making sure we win all of those things. Obviously situational football was not our best today. That is something we will see and try to improve.”
Smith then talked about looking to show improvement over the past two weeks at home against Arizona and Tampa Bay.
“We are looking to win and progress. So, I’ll stop coming here and sounding like a broken record,” she said. “We need to win at home, win for our fans and finish this off right.”
Ridder, who was 22 of 33 for 218 yards, knows exactly how his coach feels.
“We’ve been on a bumpy road this entire year,” the rookie said. “We wanted to clear that hurdle today. Obviously we didn’t. Now it’s about going for the next one”.
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