Draft position hinges on Atlanta Falcons’ final two games

The Atlanta Falcons’ final two games are about next season, not this one.

Since the Falcons (5-10) were eliminated from playoff contention with a 17-9 loss to the host Baltimore Ravens in Week 16, Atlanta’s last two games — home contests against the Cardinals (4-11) on Sunday and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8) on Jan. 8 — will determine how the football team heads into next season.

If the Falcons win both, they can expect to pick in the middle of the first round in April’s NFL Draft. But if Atlanta drops both or wins once, they can expect to select near the top of the first round, where they can take a more highly coveted player. The Falcons picked fourth and eighth overall in the previous two years, respectively, nabbing tight end Kyle Pitts in 2021 and wide receiver Drake London this past spring.

The Falcons, however, aren’t thinking about the draft or next year. Atlanta wants to end its four-game losing streak against the Cardinals, who have lost five straight after a 19-16 overtime loss to visiting Tampa Bay in Week 16.

“You can’t let circumstances dictate the effort and the want-to and the will and the passion that you play with,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “If that’s a determining factor in how hard you’re going to go, that’s not the right person for us. You have to go out and put your best foot forward.”

Perhaps no Falcon has as much to gain — or lose — than rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder, who will be making his third career start against the Cardinals. Ridder went 22-for-33 passing for 218 yards a week after throwing for just 97 yards against the Saints in Week 15.

How Ridder plays the next two games will go a long way in determining if he’s the Falcons’ quarterback going forward.

“I thought (Desmond) took a good step (against Baltimore),” Atlanta coach Arthur Smith said. “He was thrown into the fire — go down to New Orleans, play a veteran defense, thought he handled some situations.

“We had more success through the air Saturday in Baltimore against another really good defense that puts a lot of pre-snap stress on you, and I thought he handled that well for a young player and he got more comfortable in the pocket.”

Now, it’s time for Ridder to show he can lead the Falcons, who have lost six of their past seven games, to a win.

“You’re trying to build a culture of winning the right way,” Smith said. “We’ve been in a lot of close games with a young team, and been charging back, but we haven’t gotten over the hump in the last four games. We need to do that —Desmond Ridder needs to go in there, we need to go win a football game, those are important, especially if he’s going to be the quarterback of the future.”

Ridder said the Falcons can’t afford to start as slow against the Cardinals as they did against the Ravens, who jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Atlanta never recovered.

“We wanted to come out and start fast every single game and then finish the entire game and play complementary football — both offense and defense — and that was something that we didn’t do off the start,” Ridder said.

Arizona will start quarterback David Blough will Sunday game after Colt McCoy experienced concussion symptoms late in the week. Coach Kliff Kingsburgy said Friday that Blough, 27, is getting the nod over Trace McSorley, who completed 24 of 45 passes for 217 yards with an interception in Arizona’s 19-16 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Cardinals’ quarterback situation has been in disarray since Kyler Murray suffered a season-ending torn ACL in a loss to the New England Patriots on Dec. 12. Murray, who reportedly will have surgery on Jan. 3, is facing a potential nine-month recovery. His availability for the start of the 2023 regular season is tenuous.

The Falcons are going to have to score more than the 13.5 points they’ve averaged during their losing streak if they want to have any chance to end the season on a positive note.

Defensively, the Falcons haven’t given up more than 25 points in any of their past seven games and have held their last four opponents to 21 points or fewer.

The Falcons outgained the Ravens 327-299. But Atlanta was held to just three Younghoe Koo field goals and went 5-for-14 on third down, 1-for-4 on fourth down and 0-for-4 in the red zone. The Falcons held the playoff-bound Ravens (9-5) to just three second-half points.

The Falcons should be able to help Ridder by running the ball against the Cardinals. Atlanta boasts the league’s third-best rushing attack (160.8 yards per game), while the Cardinals are 12th against the run, surrendering 114.3 yards per game.

Tyler Allgeier leads the Falcons with 817 rushing yards and two scores on 166 carries, while Cordarrelle Patterson has added 635 yards and six touchdowns on 130 attempts.

However, both teams have struggled defending the pass. The Falcons are tied for 25th in passing defense (239.5), allowing one yard more than the Cardinals (240.5 ypg).

Ridder will look to take advantage by continuing to get the ball to fellow rookie London. He caught seven passes for a season-high 96 yards against the Ravens, bringing his total to a team-high 61 receptions for 699 yards and four touchdowns for the season.

“You could see it. I think they’ve got pretty good chemistry, that’s pretty obvious after two starts by him,” Smith said. “Credit to Drake, too, I mean there’s other guys that are working, getting open and there’s a trust factor there.”