The Atlanta Falcons have now lost six of their last seven games against the New Orleans Saints. Following Sunday’s 21-16 loss, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan spoke with the media about how the offense has fared in their two matchups against the Saints this season.
“We certainly didn’t play good enough… Walked away with too many field goals and not enough touchdowns. It’s disappointing when you play like that.”
Ryan was then asked about the team converting just seven of 27 third downs in their two matchups against New Orleans.
“I think part of it has to do with the type of third down we were in. We needed to be in more third and short to give us better opportunities and we weren’t in those. We needed to play better”.
When pressed on what the issue is, Ryan was asked if the scheme was the problem or just the receivers’ inability to get open.
“As players, you got to look at what you can do better, we’ve all got to do that. I think certainly when they get pressure and make the ball come out before, it allows for guys to be in tighter spaces than if we had more time. So, it’s a combination of being a little better on the outside, being a better plan, little better upfront, me being a little more accurate.”
Atlanta has talented receivers on the outside and tight end Hayden Hurst has shown an ability to get open in the middle. However, the Falcons have not done a good job at getting the ball in the hands of their play-makers.
The receivers need to do a better job getting open, while the team’s offensive line, which is stacked with first-round talent, needs to hold up longer. Ultimately, it falls on the scheme. But Ryan still holds confidence in offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and this Falcons team’s offensive makeup.
“Dirk does a good job of putting the plan together and putting us in situations to be successful. I think like every week, there’s some things he would do differently and there’s things we have to do differently as players and make plays when the situations present themselves. That’s how I feel at this point.”
Ryan is not going to openly talk about whether or not he is unhappy with Dirk Koetter and his style of offense. The Falcons quarterback is smart enough to know how detrimental those comments would be in the locker room. While it may appease fans, it would make it harder for the team to do its job effectively.
When asked about the three consecutive run plays called by Koetter, Ryan again chose to hold off on passing blame to Atlanta’s play-caller. Instead, he said players need to execute better.
“We were productive on the first one. Got us into good position, second and short and then not productive with the last two runs… It’s tough. Our job is to, as players, is to execute the calls and to do our jobs and make them work. We didn’t do a good enough job there.”
Ryan seemed to follow the lead of interim head coach Raheem Morris, who was also unwilling to call out Koetter following Sunday’s abysmal offensive performance.
The Falcons take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14, then have two matchups against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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