The Atlanta Falcons had a few days to evaluate the film following their prime-time loss to the Panthers in Week 10 and it appears they are sticking with Marcus Mariota as the starting quarterback.
It’s not exactly surprising that head coach Arthur Smith backed Mariota, but some felt it was time to make the move to rookie Desmond Ridder following the team’s poor offensive showing on Thursday night football. Smith likes where the Falcons are despite their current two-game losing streak.
Fans in Atlanta are strongly divided on the QB situation. Let’s see how Twitter reacted to hearing Mariota will remain the starter.
#Falcons coach Arthur Smith on QB SITUATION: “There is no situation. There was never a situation, ever. I don’t know where that…You understand why the question is getting asked. You lose two games in five days. Everybody wants to panic."
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) November 14, 2022
Why’d we draft Ridder in the 3rd round then 🤔🤬 https://t.co/5PXo3k7Mph
— Alex Harper (@DASTUD25) November 15, 2022
The fact that he’s even commenting on it again and now addressing it at least shows he’s starting to feel the pressure and hear what everyone is saying about Mariota’s play. The panthers game was national TV so everyone got to see what Mariota has looked like for the first time. https://t.co/OdjpMYGzl8
— JazzyJeffRealTalk (@JazzyJeffRealT1) November 14, 2022
@Cianaf dropping straight factz about Mariota and the Falcons offense but the haters won’t listen. Don’t let the loud minority make you believe Marcus should be benched. This team is not good around him. We all knew this when we saw he was going to ATL but what do I know right? https://t.co/TwMNx1DmpZ
— MM1 🎃 (@amaradventures) November 15, 2022
The conversation isn’t wrong, it’s the timing of it all. His guy has a roster that would potentially be an underdog to this years Georgia team, a game out of first place. He can’t bench him yet. Arthur Smith’s job is to win games. Have this conversation when the Falcons are 4-10. https://t.co/VVhp6cgsHG
— Austin Hyde (@austinhyde1) November 14, 2022
The likeliest truth: Arthur knows that if he benches Mariota after benching him years ago as a starter, it’ll look worse for Art than it does Marc.
— Cam Marino (@MarinoNFL) November 14, 2022
No, it’s not 2 games in 5 days. It’s way deeper than that coach 🤦🏾♂️ https://t.co/x6B6y2c6ON
— Mylo (@2loveMylo) November 14, 2022
I was concerned about the QB situation on games where we won. I’m tired of us dodging around obvious issues. https://t.co/JDkzsDVDW5
— MikeDrop (@MikeDrop_) November 14, 2022
i like arthur smith but he finna stunt atlanta’s future. he gotta go. https://t.co/9WxN1fUkp2
— Vincent Van Jogh (@_liltote) November 14, 2022
https://t.co/XkGozx3MkF pic.twitter.com/dAQblj5VCu
— Willie Faulker (@ATLtortured) November 14, 2022
What is it going to hurt to make a change? He’s underperforming and is a soon-to-be cap casualty. I think we’re at the point of seeing what we have to work with — Smith makes it seems like he made an unbreakable promise to Mariota and that’s irresponsible. https://t.co/apf0lLTkl1
— Nick (@TheWRONGboi) November 14, 2022
Well I'm glad we cleared that up https://t.co/xWsb00bKFl
— Sarah Woodall (@Woodall8Sarah) November 14, 2022
Coach come on bro https://t.co/jnOtH0R9aD
— KROWNED 🏁 (@kxngKEVO) November 14, 2022
Tell me you’ve never seen Jersey Shore without telling me you’ve never seen Jersey Shore https://t.co/nSWGd9fhti pic.twitter.com/PGsoR0aS4H
— Sweetie Pie Sal Sincere (@SalPal2) November 15, 2022
Arthur Smith pulling a Jeff Saturday means only one thing: Matt Ryan is starting on Sunday. Count it. https://t.co/slomUhdTuL
— William McFadden (@willmcfadden) November 14, 2022
We’ve wanted him bench since week 4 https://t.co/e9wwJDK9Hr
— Ace The Great (@aceth3great) November 15, 2022
I hate it here https://t.co/7oEdDJrzg8
— ⭕️pt1mst (@Opt1mst) November 14, 2022
Ridder must not be very good at receiving snaps and handing off. 🤔 https://t.co/8k7q9IFedO
— FantasySports (@touchdownmilton) November 15, 2022
