It looks like Cousins will keep his starting job for at least one more week. The Atlanta Falcons snapped their dubious four-game losing streak, but it was not an impressive performance by any stretch of the imagination in a 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders Monday night. The Falcons put up just 15 points and survived a late rally attempt against a Raiders squad led by Desmond Ridder for the victory.
“That’s where you want to be, and that’s exactly where we’re at,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “We’ve got a short week. We’ve got to get back in the lab. We’ve got to find ways to fix what we did wrong tonight and come out and get another win.”
Atlanta was able to keep pace and stayed one game behind Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for first place in the NFC South, however, there was little at all for the Falcons to celebrate. The Falcons had 11 possessions and found the end zone just one time, a 30-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to Drake London on the game’s second possession to take a 7-0 lead. The Falcons never trailed in the contest, but they failed to separate themselves.
That nearly came back to haunt them, as Ridder threw a touchdown pass to Ameer Abdullah with just under three minutes remaining in the game, to pull the Raiders within six, 15-9. Ridder struggled to find a rhythm or any type of consistency throughout the night, but had an opportunity to snatch the game out of his old team’s hands with 1:50 left. The Raiders had two Hail Mary attempts in the final seconds, as Jessie Bates intercepted Ridder on the final play to put the victory on ice.
After getting the ball back for a last-gasp drive, the Raiders converted a fourth-and-8 from their 34-yard line to eventually set up Ridder’s two shots into the end zone.
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Ridder finished 23 of 39 for 208 yards with a touchdown and two picks despite having his difficulties for 3.5 quarters.
“Desmond did a good job throwing it up there,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “It’s a jump-ball situation.”
Cousins struggled throughout the night as well, finishing 11 of 17 for 112 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Falcons had just 261 yards of total offense and had two field goals from Younghoe Koo, a less-than-encouraging performance despite getting the losing streak snapped.
The Falcons did not do anything well on the offensive side of the ball to “win” the game, but a strong start helped. Kirk Cousins threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to London early, as the Falcons had their game-high possession in yards (51). The offense did not do much, but the defense was able to take advantage of a third-string quarterback by holding the Raiders to just 116 yards on their first 10 possessions.
If the Falcons were not facing a lowly third-string quarterback, the outcome would have most certainly been different due to their inept offense.
The Raiders rolled out a third-string quarterback with Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell injured, and Ridder’s start to the game went horribly as expected. Ridder began 9 of 20 passing for 65 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception (32.3 rating) as the Raiders could muster a field goal on their first 10 possessions.
Ridder finally came alive on the final two possessions, finishing 13 of 18 for 135 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but the rally was too little too late. The dreadful start doomed Ridder and the offense, which finished with nine points.
The Raiders were making a late surge at snatching the victory, getting the Falcons off the field on third down thanks to a Cousins’ incomplete pass intended for Kyle Pitts. Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane batted the pass but also leaped into Cousins making the play, causing a 15-yard rushing the passer penalty that kept the Falcons on the field.
Las Vegas would have gotten the ball with just over 2:30 left with a timeout in their pocket and the two-minute warning, but the penalty allowed the Falcons to take a minute off the clock and made the Raiders burn their last timeout. The Raiders got the ball back with 1:50 left and no timeouts. Perhaps the Hail Mary attempts late could have been regular plays into the end zone with the extra minute on the clock.
There was not an abundance of plays to choose from in this contest but Atlanta’s blocked punt set the stage for the eventual victory. KhaDarel Hodge blocked A.J. Cole’s punt with 12:26 left in the third quarter, this coming after Kirk Cousins threw an ugly interception on the first play of the period.
The block by Hodge gave the Falcons good field position, but they did not fully capitalize on the excellent opportunity. Atlanta only got a field goal, but the 40-yarder by Koo gave the Falcons the deciding score in the win.
The Falcons remain alive in the NFC South and will host the New York Giants (2-11) on Sunday.
The Raiders are tied for the worst record in the NFL and host the Jacksonville Jaguars (3-11) on Sunday.
