ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, former player and front office executive, is set to call the Falcons (0-3) at Packers (3-0) game on Monday Night Football.
Riddick is in his first season on the new MNF crew along with Steve Levy and Brian Griese.
Here’s what he had to say about the game in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday:
Q: The Falcons are looking for someone to close out games. I used to cover the Packers and Reggie White was the closer. I don’t see him on the roster. Who can close out games for the Falcons?
A: “This has been something that (Falcons coach) Dan (Quinn) and (general manager) Thomas Dimitroff have been trying to address for years now. They keep throwing money at the position and trying to….whether if it was Vic (Beasley), Takk McKinley, whether if it’s Dante Fowler. They’ve been looking for somebody to come along and help out Grady (Jarrett) so when you have leads like that, you know you can make offenses one dimensional and you can put the quarterback on his back. They really just haven’t been able to find that guy for whatever reason.”
Q: Can Fowler, who’s been playing on a hurt ankle, step up and be the closer?
A: “Jacksonville thought he’d be that guy. The Rams thought he’d be that guy. I just don’t know if he’s going to be that guy, in the way that they are looking for and in the way that Dan is used to, especially with where he came from out there in Seattle where he had guys like that.”
Q: What are some of the Falcons’ other issues?
A: “There is a lot that goes into their inability to close. The clock-management, game-management on the offensive side. They’ve been banged up in the secondary. Their secondary hasn’t been able to stop anybody. So, there are a lot of things that go into it, but there is no question that their inability to address the rush for years upfront has been a big part of it.”
Q: How do you see the matchup in this game?
A: “This is not the game to try and get right, playing against Aaron (Rodgers) and the Packers. Their offensive line is as good as anyone’s in the league. Rodgers is playing like, I said it about Patrick Mahomes the other day, Rodgers is playing like he’s Keanu Reeves in ‘The Matrix’ ... No matter what you’re doing, he’s got an answer for it. This is going to be a tough challenge for them. One of their saving graces will be that they are going to be a little banged up at wide receiver as we all know with no Allen Lazard playing.”
Q: Is there a path to victory for the Falcons?
A: “This is going to be a tough game for Atlanta. They need help from their offense to actually help them close games out. They need the offense to possess the ball, strike when they need to strike with their big-play ability. But they need to keep it away from Green Bay, as simple as that.”
Q: The offense didn’t protect the defense late against the Bears?
A: “They are, somehow, some way are going to have to play better complementary football to get the job done. With the number of injuries that they have on the defensive side, they are just going to be out-manned to some degree. They are going to need special teams to do their part and make sure they don’t have mistakes and no errors.”
Q: Just picked up my Sports Illustrated from the mailbox and T.J. Watt is on the cover. The Falcons could have had their pass rusher, but picked Takk McKinley over Watt. What gives?
A: “It’s a multi-layered problem for them. Like I said, finding that pass rusher has always been problem for them. They haven’t been able to hit on it yet. They are not going to find any magic bullets this year. They are going to have to address it again this next offseason coming up.”
Q: How does Falcons running back Todd Gurley look to you?
A: "He definitely has his moments. When he runs those plays that he has been very familiar with and had a lot of success with when was in L.A., those inside and outside zones, when they block them up, when he’s able to hit it front-side or hit that cutback lane and get vertical, he looks like the Todd Gurley of old. We know that he’s always been a problem when you are an efficient screen team and can get it blocked up right, timed up right and he can get out in the open field.
“The cool thing about Atlanta is that they have such good perimeter weapons with Calvin (Ridley) and Julio (Jones) and even (Russell) Gage. These three guys have been playing pretty well. (Gurley) doesn’t have to carry the same kind of load that maybe he had to carry and have the same kind of touches he had in LA, which is a good thing. Which means you can save some tread for later on in the season.”
Q: How are defensive linemen Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith playing for the Packers?
A: “Za’Darius, they are moving him all over the place. He’s rushing from outside in their base 3-4. He rushes from outside in their four-man line when they go to nickel. They put him over the center sometimes and let him rush from inside. He’s just one of those dudes. He showed up on the injury report with a bit of an ankle issue. He’s legit. He’s good. Preston, right now, he’s not off the same kind of start. He’s not sacking the quarterback or putting a lot of heat on the passer. Those two, you know they’ll hit their stride as the season goes along.”
Q: How’s former Georgia State standout Chandon Sullivan playing for the Packers?
A: “Chandon has had some up and down moments. He’s been victimized a little bit, especially in their zone defense. People have got after him a little bit in there, in between the hashes and the numbers, with some hi-low combination routes. I think this defense overall has been up and down. They been susceptible to big plays in the passing game. Which plays right into Atlanta’s hands. They’ve struggled stopping the run. They’ve been beat up on the (defensive) line. I think everybody can play better on that side of the ball for Green Bay. This is definitely an offensive-centric team. The defense needs to pick it up.”
Q: What does that mean for the game?
A: “I really do see this game as being one where it should be a high-scoring game. Both of these teams should move the ball pretty well, which should be good for the viewers and good for us.”
Q: How does it feel up in the Monday Night Football booth?
A: “It’s surreal when I think about it. While you’re doing it, you’re just into the game. I’m all about the action on the field. I’m just such a football junkie. It doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t really think about the enormity of it until you look at your phone at halftime or after the game is over and all of the texts that you get, people saying ‘I can’t believe you’re on there’ or ‘Do you remember when you used to watch it as a kid?’ That’s when it kind of hits you.”
Falcons' next four games
Falcons at Green Bay Packers, at 8:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5
Panthers at Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11
Falcons at Vikings at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18
Lions at Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday Oct. 25
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