Wednesday’s come and Smith has finally decided to give Heinicke the reins. The third-year head coach was similarly hesitant to give Ridder the starting role last season despite the travails of Marcus Mariota.
It’s hardly commonplace for a first-place team to make a quarterback change midway through the season, but such is the case for a Falcons squad (4-4) sputtering on offense and yet still the frontrunner in a largely woeful NFC South.
Ridder is averaging 212.6 yards per game with six touchdowns to six interceptions. He hasn’t thrown a touchdown since Week 6 — a two-touchdown outing against the Washington Commanders that’s his only multi-TD game of the year. Having offered up a snapshot of promise at the tail end of his 2022 rookie season, Ridder was anointed the Falcons’ 2023 starter. He was viewed as a protect with potential upside who had a safe floor thanks to his care with the football. Said ball security has undertaken a freefall, though. Over the past six weeks, Ridder has issued 12 giveaways, which leads the NFL for the season, and he’s failed to ignite an offense with first-rounders at running back (Bijan Robinson), wide receiver (Drake London) and tight end (Kyle Pitts).
This is a familiar situation for Heinicke, who took over for the injured Alex Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Carson Wentz in each of the previous three seasons with the Washington Commanders, and supplanted a healthy Wentz last year, also.
The 30-year-old has a knack for kindling an offense in a pinch, but his uneven play has prevented him from becoming a franchise QB. In six seasons with the Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, Commanders and Falcons, Heinicke has gone 12-12-1 as a starter and played in 34 games, completing 63.7% of his passes for 5,920 yards, 35 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.
He’ll get his first start as a Falcon on Sunday against the Vikings, who are moving on from starter Kirk Cousins due to a season-ending Achilles tear. The two 4-4 squads will square off with Heinicke likely facing rookie Jaren Hall in a matchup nobody was expecting heading into the season.