ATLANTA — The Falcons are close to being good again. They weren’t far off last season. Eight of their 10 losses came in one-score games; six of those eight came with Marcus Mariota at quarterback.
Mariota is gone. The Falcons’ quarterback in 2023 will be Desmond Ridder, at least at first. If Ridder fails, it’ll be Taylor Heinicke. If Ridder proves NFL-worthy, the Falcons should win 10 games. In the NFC South, that should suffice.
The Falcons have a plan. It didn’t include making a run at Lamar Jackson, though apparently no NFL team felt moved to make such a run. On the one hand, he seemed a nice fit for coach Arthur Smith’s brand of offense. On the other, he’d have cost a ton in salary and draft picks. That would have required a rewritten plan.
