What to watch when Falcons face Raiders on ‘Monday Night Football’

Once all is said and done the story of the game will be one of two things in my mind. It’ll either be about Cousins pulling himself up by his boot straps and putting together a performance that builds his own confidence and that of the fan base’s confidence in him. Cousins has not thrown a touchdown pass in four games. He’s simultaneously thrown double that in interceptions in the same time frame. Cousins needs redemption, and he has an opportunity to find it in front of a national audience in prime time.

But then, there’s the Ridder of it all. Falcons fans know Ridder well. He was drafted by Atlanta, called for by the fan base when Marcus Mariota struggled. He was named the Falcons’ starting quarterback heading into the 2023 season. He was benched for Taylor Heinicke towards the back half of said season. Then, the Falcons traded Ridder to the Cardinals in exchange for Rondale Moore, where he spent a couple months on the practice squad. He was signed off said practice squad by the Raiders in October. If Ridder plays and plays well, beating the team that drafted him, started him and traded him, that would be the story of the game.

But which one will it be? That’s the question.

Honestly, I wanted to put the entire Falcons’ run game into this section. Because of the issues turnovers have presented the unit in the last couple losses, what Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier and the entire blocking core has done in the run game is something I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

And it should be a unit that actually has quite a bit of confidence after performing the way it did against the league’s top run defense in Minnesota. With questions about Cousins lingering the longer he goes without a touchdown pass, the run game could be an easy way for the Falcons to move the ball Monday night. And if they’re running the ball, that means Robinson is getting touches.

So far in 2024, Robinson has 1,463 yards from scrimmage. He needs just 24 rushing yards this Sunday to crack 1,000-yards rushing in a single season — the first time in his career he’s done so. In theory, he should surpass that margin with ease seeing as he is averaging 57 yards per game. And if the Falcons go to the run often and with success? It could — and maybe should be — even higher.