The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After X-rays, Ryan deemed 'ready to go'
Quarterback under siege most of game against Steelers.
FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who was sacked six times and hit 11 times in the 41-17 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, was seen leaving the X-ray room at Heinz Field.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn confirmed the X-ray on Monday and said that Ryan “is 100 percent ready to go.”
Ryan did not return to the game after losing a fumble on a sack by Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh’s L.J. Fort recovered the fumble for a touchdown.
Backup quarterback Matt Schaub finished the game.
Ryan completed 26 of 38 passes for 285 yards and a touchdown in the loss that dropped the Falcons to 1-4.
Right tackle Ryan Schraeder had a long day at the office against Watt, who finished with three sacks, three tackles for losses and three quarterback hits.
Fort had a sack, defensive end Cameron Heyward had 1½ sacks and linebacker Jon Bostic had a half of a sack for the Steelers, who over- whelmed the Falcons’ offensive line and running backs.
It was not a pretty film-review session on “Tell the Truth” Monday for the Falcons.
“I went through all of them,” Quinn said. “I went through a number of them today with the team when we were hitting on the truth. If there was just one thing, this one topic or this one player, there were some techniques areas at offensive line, running back as we went through it.
“Each one specifically had an issue that we had to deal with and get corrected, as well as some quarterback hits.”
Ryan was under siege for most of the day.
“We go over all of the looks, and we had a really good game plan on how to protect him, but a different stunt or something comes up and you’re going to have to react,” left tackle Jake Matthews said. “Sticking to our rules and techniques are going to take care of it. That’s part of the game, so we have to do a better job of that.”
It was the line’s worst per- formance of the season.
The Falcons gave up three sacks and six hits against the Bengals. The line gave up three sacks and seven hits against the Saints.
In their lone win, over the Panthers on Sept. 16, Ryan was not sacked and was hit only twice. In the season opener against the Eagles on Sept. 6, Ryan was sacked four times and hit 13 times.
Overall, the Falcons have given up 17 sacks and 39 quarterback hits.
“We can definitely fix it,” Matthews said. “Some of the things was just being slightly out of position. Just little things like that. We’re going to take care of it. We’re going to fix it. That’s what we are working on.”
The Falcons had trouble with the Steelers’ blitzes. There were unaccounted-for players, and the Falcons didn’t slide their pro- tections at times.
“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing because they were bringing a lot of different stuff in the game,” Matthews said. “We just have to do bet- ter overall.”
Ryan was not pleased with the blocking, but would not rip his linemen after the game.
“I think everybody knows,” Ryan said about his displeasure. “Everybody knows our production needs to be better than it’s been. The hardest part for players is having to watch that film and critically evaluate your- self. I think with the kind of guys that we have, there’s not going to be a whole lot that needs to be said.”
Ryan didn’t believe that the Steelers caught the offen- sive line off guard.
“No, that’s kind of their MO as a defense; they are a pressure outfit, zone-blitz scheme,” Ryan said. “When you have success with that early, you know they are going to go back to that well throughout the game.”
In addition to not protecting Ryan, the offensive line didn’t get the running game rolling. The Falcons were held to 62 yards rushing on 19 attempts.
Running back Devonta Freeman, who returned from a bruised knee, was held to 32 yards on six carries.
“We have really good running backs,” Matthews said. “We have to get them out in the open field. We have to game-plan well, prepare and be on top of it on Sundays.”
The Falcons are set to play Tampa Bay (2-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Bucs’ defensive line features Gerald McCoy and Jason Pierre-Paul.
“They’ve got a lot of good players and they’ve been playing well, too,” Matthews said. “It’s going to be a big challenge for us. We definitely have areas where we can improve on. There is not a magic answer. We have to prepare hard and work hard.”
‘Some of the things was just being slightly out of position. Just little things like that. We’re going to take care of it.’ Jake Matthews Offensive lineman