Falcons head coach Arthur Smith following loss: 'We've turned the ball over too much lately'

The Falcons self-destructed in Sunday’s 24-16 home loss to the Washington Commanders, with three Desmond Ridder interceptions costing Atlanta.

Atlanta outgained Washington, 402-193, and generated 25 first downs to 13. Ridder passed for 307 yards to 151 for Sam Howell. The Falcons rushed for 106 yards to Washington’s 72. Atlanta’s D sacked Howell five times and held the Commanders to 2 of 10 on third downs.

But the turnovers from the second-year quarterback negated any chance for Atlanta to pull off the come-from-behind victory. Losers of three of their past four games, the Falcons have nine turnovers in that quartet of contests.

“We’ve turned the ball over too much lately,” Arthur Smith said Sunday, via Tori McElhaney of the team’s official website.

Sunday marked the second time Ridder has thrown multiple interceptions (also Week 4). While the passing game has begun to open up — 275.7 pass yards per game over the past three weeks compared to 180.1 pass YPG in his first seven career starts — so have the turnovers.

The Week 6 miscues — including an early turnover on downs near midfield and poor punt coverage — led to short-yardage situations each time the Commanders scored. Washington’s three TD drives went for a combined 85 yards (28.34 yards per drive).

The Falcons’ end-of-game play on offense consisted of horrific execution. Trailing by eight late, Atlanta drove to the 2-yard-line before taking an egregious delay of game penalty. On the ensuing play, Ridder seemed to panic on a woefully underthrown ball to Drake London — Smith called it “miscommunication” — that was picked off.

Then, after the defense got two more stops (they allowed just 16 fourth-quarter yards to Washington), Smith’s club had another shot to tie the game. Yet, inexplicably, the Falcons were forced to burn their final timeout with the clock stopped at 0:31 to avoid another delay. On the next pass, Ridder threw his third INT, sealing the loss.

“Sometimes it’s a snowball effect. You’re moving a guy around here, there. They sound like excuses, but that’s what happened,” Smith said. “We’ve all got to be better. It’s always going to start with me. It hasn’t been an issue, but it was (Sunday). You have to acknowledge that. And it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

The loss pushed Atlanta to 3-3, a half-game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) for the NFC South lead. The rivals face off in Week 7 with the division lead on the line.