Welcome to the NFL, Matt Ryan.
The rookie looked a shell of his usually composed self in the first half, tossing two picks in his first four drives against an active Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. Ryan did not complete his first pass of the game until around the six-minute mark of the second quarter. He seemed to settle down heading into halftime, but has shown more errant decision making in this game than the entire preseason.
The real cause for concern came from a running game that didn’t show the bite it did against Detroit last week. The offense finally showed more continuity in the second, but questions must be raised about the playcalling from offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who chose to go with three pass plays to start the game. A critical Ryan pick gave the Bucs a short field, and took pressure off of Brian Griese, who, without a big arm, excels in short to intermediate routes.
If the Falcons are to stage a comeback, they have to lengthen the Buccaneers’ scoring drives, get back to winning the battle at the line of scrimmage and convert on third down. Ten Buccaneers points in the first quarter came from drives that began within the 20-yard line. The defense has held its end of the bargain, limiting the Buccaneers’ rushing game to minimal gains, but the offense has been stagnant through two quarters. Michael Turner (30 yards) hasn’t found the running room he had last week and, to make matters worse, left tackle Sam Baker could miss the remainder of the game. Winning the battle on the offensive line will be tough without Baker, but the Falcons will have to get more yards out of the running attack on first down, and find ways to convert third downs, as they have had little success thus far (2-for-10).
If not for special teams and a fairly stout run defense that looks on its way to another game of less than 100 yards conceded (37 rushing yards allowed at half), the Falcons would be in an even bigger hole in their first road test of the season.
Horne can be reached at ehorne@scoreatl.com.
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