The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons get no time to nurse wounds
Team sees plenty to lament, but Saints are up next on Thursday.
The Falcons, who were favored to win for the first time in five games, were overpowered by a stout Buccaneers defensive front on Sunday.
The Bucs locked up the Falcons’ offense and then got after quarterback Matt Ryan, who was missing a weapon with his main outlet, Julio Jones, hampered by a right shoulder injury for most of the game.
Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich found the soft spots in the Fa l cons’ zone defense and kept hammering away with wide receiver Chris
Godwin as the Bucs went on to pummel the Falcons 35-22 in a deceiving score that was aided by a garbage/fantasy-time touchdown.
Here are five things we learned from the Falcons’ loss Sunday:
The Falcons couldn’t get their pass rush going
They did not sack Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston and had just one quarterback hit. There were several almost-sacks, but Winston broke free and passed the ball or scrambled. On a key third-and-9 on the first possession of the third quarter, Winston broke free for a 24-yard run. He escaped through the left side of the defense, where the Falcons were rushing Takk McKinley at left end and Grady Jarrett at left tackle. Adrian Clayborn was at right tackle and Vic Beasley was at right end, and the Falcons continued to shuffle their rushers around the line.
Through their two-game winning streak, the Falcons had 11 sacks and 21 quarterback hits. They had just seven sacks over the first eight games of the season.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians noted that the Falcons simplified their defense, played more zone and just rushed hard in pass rushing situations.
“I don’t think anything changed,” Jarrett said. “Just like you guys study your craft, opposing teams study us, too. We just have to throw whatever we need to try to get some pressure. Nobody is not going to give it to you.”
Ryan’s troubles against Bowles
Before serving as head coach of the New York Jets (2015-18), Todd Bowles was the defensive coordinator in Arizona (2013-14). In a 27-13 loss to the Cardinals, Ryan had one his worst days as a pro, as he completed 34 of 61 passes for 301 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 47.2.
Against the Bucs, Ryan had his lowest passer rating of the season, 59.2. He had 60.6 in the loss to the Rams.
Ryan completed 23 of 46 passes for 271 yards, no touchdowns and one interception before leaving early in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand.
“One of the strengths of their team was their run defense,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “That part, you’ve got to win some hard yards. We didn’t get much going in that space.”
Without the threat of the run, Bowles’ defense ignored the Falcons’ play-action fakes. That was evident on Bucs linebacker Devin White’s first sack. He ran right past the fake and went straight to Ryan for the sack.
Ryan was under duress for most of the game. “They did an excellent job today getting after us,” he said. “We weren’t able to get into any rhythm.”
Blocking was shoddy
Falcons right tackle Kaleb McGary had a tough time with White on one sack. Defensive tackle Vita Vea bested left guard James Carpenter on another sack. Left tackle Jake Matthews got beat by Jason Pierre-Paul on the play that led to Ndamukong Suh’s touchdown.
“(The blocking) was not to the level or standard that’s acceptable for us for sure,” Quinn said.
In addition to the poor pass protection, Falcons running backs Brian Hill and Qadree Ollison combined for 17 carries and 34 rushing yards for a paltry 2 yards per carry.
“It’s frustrating trying to adjust,” McGary said. “We got behind so we kind of started getting back on our heels, falling behind, and when that happens you’re constantly trying to adjust, and it’s just crappy man; it’s frustrating.”
The line felt it took a step backward. “We just didn’t play good enough today, straight up,” McGary said. “They were the better team today, but this is absolutely not what we’re capable of. We’ve shown that we are a much better team than this, and we just didn’t show up with our fastball today for whatever reason.”
Godwin’s 1-man show
The Falcons didn’t have an answer for wide receiver Chris Godwin up the seam of their cover two zone. He finished with seven catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 71-yard reception for a touchdown where linebacker Deion Jones was in coverage and Damontae Kazee took a bad angle to the play.
“Anytime that you give up a big explosive, you want to know the reason why,” Quinn said. “A couple of the seam plays certainly looked to me to be like daggers. The big explosive plays to Godwin down the seam were certainly a big factor in the game.”
Kazee was yelling at rookie cornerback Kendall Sheffield. He apparently needed to take deeper drops.
“They did a good job of finding the holes in the zone,” cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “When we play them next time, we just have to make it harder for them.”
The Falcons’ defense had eliminated the big play in wins over the Saints and Panthers.
“I don’t think it was communication,” Trufant said. “It just came down to them making the plays. They made more plays. That’s ball. They get paid, too. We were communicating. We had a good week of practice. We just dug ourselves in a hole and couldn’t recover.”
Bring on the Saints
The Falcons won’t have any time to wallow in self pity. They play the Saints (9-2) Thursday in the late Thanksgiving Day game. The Saints defeated the Panthers 34-31 on Sunday.
After the bye week, the Falcons defeated the Saints 26-9 on Nov. 10.