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Regular season in five words or fewer: Missed opportunities, yet clear progress

This was supposed to be a season in transition -- and it remained so moving from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota to Desmond Ridder at quarterback and turning over so much of the roster. But the Falcons were more competitive than expected, in part due to a woeful division, and have obvious young players to build around for the future in WR Drake London, RB Tyler Allgeier, OL Jake Matthews and Chris Lindstrom, CB A.J. Terrell and DT Grady Jarrett. There are still many questions about the future of this team, but there's at least a base for head coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot to start with.

The evaluation of Desmond Ridder continues. The rookie quarterback has yet to throw a touchdown pass in three starts, but he did secure his first win as a starter when Younghoe Koo booted a last-second field goal in Sunday's 20-19 conquest over the Cardinals. Ridder was smart with the football and showed some good accuracy on deep balls, even if they didn't end in completions. It remains likely that Atlanta will be active in the quarterback market this offseason, but Ridder can give the team something to think about if he can deliver a strong performance in the season finale against the Bucs.

Desmond Ridder won his first game as an NFL starter, which is progress. He didn't put up gaudy numbers, but he didn't turn it over either.

Not a ton to get excited about in Atlanta at the moment ... but if you love right guards, Chris Lindstrom has emerged as one of the league's best?

Rookie running back Tyler Allgeier has been a nice find over the second half of the season. Over the past three games, with a small increase in workload, Allgeier has 296 yards on 55 carries for a 5.4-yard average. He should be Atlanta's clear starter to begin next season.