•  The Falcons have named Taylor Heinicke as their starting quarterback for Week 16.
•  Desmond Ridder has not performed well this season and ranks poorly in various statistical categories.
•  Heinicke’s career stats are similar to Ridder’s 2023 numbers, making the move appear as a desperation play.

The Atlanta Falcons confirmed Tuesday morning that Taylor Heinicke would start as quarterback for the team in Week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts, according to Falcons digital managing editor Scott Bair. This came after a humiliating 9-7 defeat to the now-2-12 Carolina Panthers.

The choice was made following another perplexing one made by 2022 third-round pick Desmond Ridder late in the game on Sunday, deep in opposition territory, which resulted in an interception. Attempting to force a throw through three defenders to running back

Cordarrelle Patterson in the end zone, the second-year signal caller missed wide

receiver Drake London, who was wide open inside the five-yard line. The

Falcons were down to their final offensive play of the day.

Atlanta’s chances of making the playoffs took a serious knock after the loss to Carolina; according to the New York Times playoff simulator, they are now only seven percent. Presumably, the relocation to Heinicke was an attempt to make that remote prospect a reality. Actually, the alteration makes it harder for the Falcons to qualify for the postseason.

Desmond Ridder gives the Falcons their best chance to win games

Taylor Heinicke has not been better than Ridder over most of his career

There’s no need to sugarcoat the fact that Ridder hasn’t performed well this season. He has actually already been taken out of

Heinicke’s starting lineup once this year. In the majority of qualitative and

quantitative data categories, Ridder is ranked in the lower half, if not the lowest

QB STATISTIC

DESMOND RIDDER

RANK (AMONG QUALIFIERS)

COMPLETION %

63.3%

T-19TH

PASSING YARDS

2,528

20TH

PASSING TOUCHDOWNS

10

T-24TH

TOUCHDOWN %

2.8%

27TH

INTERCEPTION %

2.8%

T-26TH

AIR YARDS/ATTEMPT

6.4

T-21ST

QUARTERBACK RATING

82.2

24TH

ESPN QBR

38.3

24TH

SACK %

8.1%

24TH

The issue facing Atlanta is that, neither in 2023 nor during his career, Heinicke has demonstrated performance that is appreciably better than Ridder. Although his nine career non-starting appearances have an impact on his cumulative figures, such as passing yards per game, the metrics are still quite similar to Ridder’s.

QUARTERBACK

PASS YDS/GM

TD%

INT%

SACK%

BAD THROW %

ON TARGET %

RECORD

DESMOND RIDDER (2023)

194.5

2.8%

2.8%

8.1%

14.0%

75.1%

6-6

TAYLOR HEINICKE (2023)

166.0

4.1%

1.4%

6.3%

23.2%

69.6%

0-2

TAYLOR HEINICKE (CAREER)

173.4

4.1%

2.8%

6.8%

18.2%

74.1%*

12-14-1

*The 2018 season is not included in Heinicke’s career on target percentage.

After a lackluster season, head coach Arthur Smith is beginning to feel the fire. It is all his fault that Ridder hasn’t developed more; with the losses piling up, he’s acting desperate to keep the Falcons’ season alive and possibly even his job. Although we’ve seen this kind of transition start a run in the past, there’s no concrete proof that Heinicke will make Atlanta the next team to profit from a change of this kind thus late in the season.