Atlanta Falcons studs and duds from a costly Week 14 loss to the Chargers.
Both the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Chargers entered Week 14 of the regular season looking to bounce back into the win column after falling in each of their games last weekend. With the Falcons losing two of their last three and the Chargers falling in two straight contests, the two squads battled it out in a cross-conference battle on Sunday evening in Los Angeles.
At the end of the game, Los Angeles was the team that would come out on top and get back into the win column. A late field goal lifted them to the 20-17 victory at SoFi Stadium in California.
In the opening half, Atlanta was able to get out in front of Los Angeles to kick off the contest. After the two teams each tallied seven points apiece in the first quarter, the Falcons started to separate themselves with a 10-3 advantage in the second quarter to carry a 17-10 lead into halftime.
To round out the game in the final two quarters, the Chargers took the game over and shut out the Falcons the rest of the way to complete a comeback win at home. Los Angeles outscored Atlanta 7-0 in the third quarter and recorded a field goal in the final seconds of the contest to pull out a three-point victory.
Atlanta returns to action in Week 15 when it returns home for the final time in the regular season to host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a NFC South showdown on Sunday afternoon. Los Angeles will hit the road in Week 15 when it takes on the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football in Las Vegas.
With the cross-conference contest between the Falcons and Chargers now in the books, here are some studs and duds from Atlanta in the game.
Stud: Calvin Ridley
For yet another week, Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley stepped up to lead the receiving group while Julio Jones was out with an injury. Ridley has put together a dominant year thus far for Atlanta, oftentimes leading the receiving group on a weekly basis. In Week 14 on the road, he managed to do that once again.
Ridley tallied a team-best eight receptions on 12 total targets, hauling in 124 yards and one touchdown along the way. The wideout recorded a game-long reception of 39 yards, which was a game-best mark as well. Ridley continues to prove his importance to what Atlanta does on offense, and that was on full display on Sunday.
Dud: Turnovers
Perhaps the biggest dud was the number of turnovers on the side of the Falcons and the offense ultimately shooting itself in the foot by the end of the game.
As a team, Atlanta finished with three turnovers in the contest, providing Los Angeles with extra opportunities to take the lead in the game and come out with the late-game win at home in Los Angeles. All three of the Falcons turnovers came from quarterback Matt Ryan, who finished the game with three interceptions out of his 32 pass attempts.