Falcons offense shows life
Win at Jets keeps them in race
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Sheets of rain deluged down on the field from kickoff until the clock bled out.
As the nor’easter dumped water and whipped wins through MetLife Stadium, any hopes the Atlanta Falcons might have had for a crisp offensive performance washed away.
“That was some of the hardest conditions that I’ve had to play in,” quarterback Matt Ryan said.
But for an offense that had scored just 41 points in a three-game losing skid, there were signs of life.
The Falcons weathered some sloppy play and fended off a late comeback attempt to beat the New York Jets 25-20 Sunday. Atlanta (4-3) secured a much-needed victory to keep pace in the NFC South on a day when the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints — both ahead of the Falcons — won.
In the first half, Ryan fumbled twice on exchanges with center Alex Mack.
It happened again in the fourth quarter, this time in the red zone when the Falcons were trying to mount a comeback. Ryan recovered the ball. One play later, he connected with receiver Mohamed Sanu for the goahead, 8-yard touchdown catch. But that wouldn’t be the last of the quarterback-center troubles.
Ryan trotted to the sideline before the ensuing two-point conversion try, grabbing a dry towel and stuffing it under his jersey. He kept his right hand tucked away in the towel right up until it was time to snap the ball.
But Ryan again fumbled the ball, and the Jets recovered.
“I was not happy,” Mack said. “It was something that we thought we had fixed after the first one, and it kept being a problem.
“Their D-line did a good job of getting in on us really quick, and it’s just really slick. It was really wet, and the ball was hard to grip. It’s just half on me and half on Matt, I think.”
Ryan also tried putting on gloves to try to better grip the ball. Eventually, after they didn’t work either, he shed them.
Despite putting the ball on the turf, the Falcons showed situational improvement in two areas that were points of emphasis. During the three-game losing streak, Atlanta scored touchdowns on just four of nine red-zone trips and reached first downs on 13 of 33 third-down tries.
Against the Jets, those numbers weren’t much better. The Falcons scored touchdowns on two of their six red-zone trips and converted just five of 14 third downs. But when Atlanta needed it most, it made those plays.
“While we weren’t perfect by any stretch,” Ryan said, “we made some really good plays in those situations when we needed them.”
Ryan completed 18 of his 29 attempts for 254 yards and two touchdowns.
The Falcons, just one season removed from pacing the NFL in scoring — with 33.8 points per game — have slipped to the middle of the league, averaging 21.9. Still, on a day in which both offenses were at a disadvantage with the weather, this has to be measured as progress.
“We don’t worry about what people think or have questions about the Falcons,” receiver Julio Jones said. “In this building, we’ve got to stay together. We don’t go out to please others. We go out here and work for each other. That’s just the way to be, so you don’t have all those ups and downs. We’ve got to fix it in this building first.”
The Falcons travel to Charlotte to face the Panthers (5-3) on Sunday, now a pivotal game in the race for the division. And after it played in a thick fog two weeks ago against the Patriots and in a torrential downpour Sunday, Atlanta is just hoping for sunny skies to conclude its three-game road trip.
“We’ve had some interesting conditions the last two games,” Ryan said. “You never know in Carolina, too. I mean, it could get weird down there next week, too.”