The NFC South remains open for the taking, though the Atlanta Falcons missed out on a good chance to keep pace with the New Orleans Saints as they lost to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9.
The Falcons were in control for most of the game, and even lucked out when rookie Jaren Hall was ruled out early in the game after suffering a concussion.
However, Joshua Dobbs, whom Minnesota traded for earlier that week, stepped in and somehow did enough to upset Atlanta in crunch time.
It was an unfortunate loss for the Falcons who looked like the better team for most of the afternoon, especially considering they got a solid performance from Taylor Heinicke.
Heinicke threw for 268 yards and one touchdown, though he did commit one interception on the day.
Despite the loss, head coach Arthur Smith is sticking with Heinicke as the starter for Week 10 against the Arizona Cardinals via Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Falcons’ HC Arthur Smith announced that QB Taylor Heinicke will start again Sunday against Arizona.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 6, 2023
It looks like Smith may have seen enough from Desmond Ridder who opened the 2023 NFL season as Atlanta’s starting quarterback.
Ridder displayed flashes in his second year, but there were far too many instances of him missing easy throws within the flow of the offense.
Heinicke isn’t a dramatic improvement over Ridder, but he’s a competent signal caller who’s not afraid to challenge defenses vertically.
The Cardinals have not been good this year, though they do get Kyler Murray back.
With Murray under center for Arizona, Atlanta can’t afford to play down to their opponent.
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