Falcons 27, Lions 23: Desmond Ridder, Defense Save The Day
The Atlanta Falcons are heading home on a happy flight after a 27-23 win over the Detroit Lions.
With less than four minutes to go and the Lions driving, it looked bleak for the Falcons, but after a Timothy Horne fumble recovery, Atlanta had life at the two-minute warning.
Ridder worked the Falcons into field-goal range, but on 4th-and-9 on the 21-yard line, the former Cincinnati quarterback escaped the pocket and found tight end Jared Bernhardt on a prayer of a touchdown to take the lead.
The first quarter saw each team kill a substantive amount of time off the clock to score a touchdown. After D'Andre Swift ran for a 9-yard touchdown to put the Lions up 7-0, Marcus Mariota made his Falcons debut and put the team on the board.
Mariota led a 12-play, 82-yard drive that spanned over nine minutes to tie the game. The drive ended on a Mariota 6-yard score to tie the game. But the most important detail of the team's opening drive came on a Drake London 24-yard catch, the first of his career. Unfortunately for London, he suffered a knee injury on the play that knocked him out for the remainder of the game.
In the second quarter, rookie Desmond Ridder entered the game and despite an unsuccessful first drive, he proved why the Falcons selected him in the third round on the second drive. Ridder captained a seven-play, 55-yard drive to put the Falcons ahead 14-10 after a 1-yard touchdown to tight end Parker Hesse.
The Lions responded with a touchdown of their own and Ridder led a 47-second drive that ended in a field goal to tie the game at halftime 17-17.
In the second half, with most of the starters sidelined, the back half of the roster got their chance to shine. Cornerback Dee Alford made the most of his opportunity, picking off quarterback David Blough in Detroit territory. The offense wasn't able to capitalize and settled for a field goal.
The Lions took a long drive afterwards to tie the game 20-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
After going three-and-out at the start of the fourth quarter, the Lions turned a 17-play drive into a field goal, granting them a 23-20 lead. The Falcons couldn't answer on the ensuing drive and punted after the first series. But they were able to turn it around thanks to the defense and Ridder's heroics.
Tonight's game, though meaningless in the standings, gave many young Falcons a taste of the NFL and a morale boost going into the season. The team can look back on a moment like this and apply it to the regular season when facing a similar deficit.
The Falcons will return to the field a week from Monday to face the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.
