Falcons‘ No. 1 receiver Calvin Ridley is not making the trip with the team to London and will not play in Sunday’s game against the Jets, the team announced Thursday. The Falcons stated that Ridley is dealing with a personal matter.
Ridley is a big loss for a Falcons offense that is 25th in the NFL in scoring and 20th in passing. The four-year veteran currently leads Atlanta with 255 receiving yards and 27 receptions — the latter of which is nine more than the Falcons’ second-leading receiver, Cordarrelle Patterson. Ridley is coming off of a 2020 season that saw him set career highs with 90 receptions and 1,374 yards.
With Ridley out, expect quarterback Matt Ryan to lean more on Patterson, who leads the team with four receiving touchdowns and is averaging a team-high 13.1 yards per catch. Patterson is also the Falcons’ second-leading rusher with 119 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.
Ryan will also likely look more to rookie tight end Kyle Pitts and running back Mike Davis. Pitts is third on the team in receiving yards (189) and fourth in receptions (15). Davis has 80 yards and a score on 16 receptions through four games.
Atlanta’s offense will face a New York defense that has made significant strides under first year head coach Robert Saleh. The unit is currently 14th in the NFL in scoring, 12th in passing, third in third-down efficiency and fourth in red-zone efficiency. The unit also has 13 sacks, led by defensive tackle Quinnen Williams‘ 3.5 sacks. Look for the Falcons to exploit the Jets’ run defense, which allowed 177 yards in last week’s win over the Titans.
The Falcons are 3-point favorites over the Jets, according to Caesars Sportsbook, with the over/under set at 46 points.
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