It didn’t look pretty, but the Falcons began the season with a victory, defeating the Panthers by a couple of scores. Both quarterbacks left a bit to be desired.
Bryce Young had some rough sledding, tossing a pair of interceptions to Jessie Bates III, completing 20-of-38 passes for 146 yards and a score. To be fair, he didn’t have much help. Carolina features a pathetic group of skill position players.
Desmond Ridder wasn’t much better, but he didn’t turn the ball over. The Falcons signal caller completed a much more efficient 15-of-18 for 115 yards and a touchdown. Most of his attempts were at or behind the line of scrimmage, but the play of the game was a long completion to Kyle Pitts in the fourth quarter, leading to the final score of the afternoon and eventually sealed the win.
For both quarterbacks, there were positives and negatives, but Steve Smith Sr. doesn’t care. The Panthers legend continued his media tour bashing Desmond Ridder, posting the pair’s box score side by side but conveniently leaving out the Bryce Young interceptions.
https://twitter.com/SteveSmithSr89/status/1701048720203141138?s=20
I don’t know how confident I would be trolling Ridder with the kind of performance Young put out there, but I digress.
The feud dates back to the offseason when Smith spoke ill of Ridder on his podcast, telling Packers rookie Jayden Reed that his situation in Green Bay with Jordan Love is enviable because it could’ve been worse. “Atlanta doesn’t have a quarterback.” It didn’t end there.
Following a Falcons training camp practice in which Ridder threw a pair of interceptions, the future Hall of Fame receiver stitched a Falcons-posted highlight of Jaylinn Hawkins intercepting an overthrown ball from Ridder. Funny enough, the video didn’t show who threw the ball, which Smith had fun pointing out.
Steve Smith’s trolling needs a bit of work, but I’m excited to see this rivalry continue well beyond his playing career. He’s among the best trash talkers in sports, but Desmond Ridder’s performance didn’t warrant it this time considering Bryce Young wasn’t much better, if at all.
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Photographer: Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire
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