The Falcons were relieved to get to their bye week with a 3-4 record, the result of two straight wins.
“We need some rest, we have had different guys banged up at different times,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “All of us need a rest to kind of refresh and get ready for the second half of the season. I think that will benefit us moving forward.”
The Falcons, who were hit hard by injuries, were still just two defensive stops away from being 5-2. They couldn’t finish off the Saints in an overtime shootout and they let the Bengals’ Andy Dalton drive in for a winning touchdown with seconds remaining.
Also, they were throwing into the end zone for a potential victory against the Eagles. They got walloped by the Steelers.
“This ball club, we just have to continue to keep building,” wide receiver Julio Jones said. “The games we lost in the past, six points or less, we have to figure out how to win (those) games. ... We are on a streak now. We’ve got two games under our belt. We just have to keep going and keep winning in winning situations.”
The Falcons, who will play the Redskins on Nov. 4 in Landover, Md. following this week’s bye, believe they’ve survived the traumatic start to the season.
“We just had to get some momentum and find what works for us and keep moving,”cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “There is a lot of ball left. We can do a lot of damage out there.”
Here are four things that went right for the Falcons over the first seven games:
1. Play of Matt Ryan: While the defense was trying to work through three major injuries, Ryan tried to carry the team.
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian has done a masterful job of staying with an anemic rushing attack to set up play-action passes that Ryan is so effective running.
In the win over the Giants, Ryan completed 18 consecutive passes to close out the 23-20 victory and completed passes to 10 different receivers.
Ryan, who’s played in the passing friendly era, moved up to 13th on the NFL’s all-time completions list. He moved ahead of Vinny Testaverde (3,787).
Ryan and the offense have tried mightily to carry the team, but faltered late against New Orleans and Cincinnati with stalled drives and failed to capitalized on a blocked punt that gave them the ball on the 8-yard line.
The margin of error is slim for the team and the offense needs to stay at or very near peak efficiency.
Since the win over Carolina, Ryan has 203 attempts without an interception which is a franchise record. He surpassed Steve Bartkowski’s mark of 197 set in 1982-83.
Before play started in Week 8, Ryan led the NFL in passing yards this season with 2,335.
The Falcons have solved their red zone issues. After completing 2 of 10 passes for 13 yards and one touchdown in the opening loss to the Eagles, Ryan has completed 18 of 20 passes for 165 yards and 10 touchdowns in the red zone.
2. Ridley's emergence: Rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley has fit right into the Falcons offense. After being a non-factor in the season opener, Ridley has shown his play-making ability.
He’s caught 27 of 35 targets for 392 yards and six touchdowns. His 14.5 yards per catch average leads all rookies who have at least 15 catches.
He’s also had three rushes for 13 yards and has returned two kickoffs for 50 yards.
“It’s the work we put in,” said Ridley about his fast start. “We go out there and catch it every day in practice. We put in the work.”
3. McKinley matters: Takk McKinley, the second-year defensive end, is the team's top pass rusher. He has six sacks, five tackles for losses and eight quarterback hits.
McKinley, who played part-time as a rookie, also has 31 tackles. He’s played 263 of the defensive snaps, 54.6 percent.
4. Hooper's hands: Third-year tight end Austin Hooper is off to a great start.
Hooper’s caught 33 of 41 targets for 321 yards and two touchdowns. He’s on pace to catch 75 passes, gain 734 yards and score six touchdowns.
That would be the most by a Falcons’ tight end since Jacob Tamme caught 59 passes in 2015. The great Tony Gonzalez caught 83 passes for 859 yards and eight touchdown at age 37 in 2013.
Here are four things that went wrong for the Falcons over the first seven games:
1. So many injuries: The Falcons have six starters on injured reserve in left guard Andy Levitre (arm), right guard Brandon Fusco (broken ankle), running back Devonta Freeman (groin/sports hernia), middle linebacker Deion Jones (broken foot), strong safety Keanu Neal (knee) and free safety Ricardo Allen (Achilles).
Jones and Freeman could return this season, but the rest of the players are out.
“A lot of times, it’s bad luck,” said Dr. Ken Jung, a foot and ankle surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles. “The luck of the draw.”
Football is an inherently dangerous sport, which leads to injuries. Some contend that soft tissue injuries, like Allen’s Achilles, happen because teams don’t practice as hard anymore.
“The size of the athlete, but when you are playing football you have 21 other guys on the field with you,” Jung said. “If you get in a collision or a pile up, a lot of times, that’s bad luck.”
The Falcons’ trainer is Marty Lauzon and the strength coach is Jesse Ackerman.
In addition to the injured reserve players, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (sprained ankle), defensive end Derrick Shelby (groin), kicker Matt Bryant (hamstring) and McKinley (shoulder) have missed games because of injuries.
2. Beasley needs counter move: The "Should have drafted Todd Gurley: Best player available" crowd is coming out of the woodwork again. Falcons defensive end Vic Beasley has played 351 of the defensive snaps (72.8 percent), but has just one sack, seven tackles, one tackle for loss and three quarterback hits.
Despite moving him back to defensive end, the Falcons have continued to drop him in coverage when needed. Beasley had 15.5 sacks to lead the league in 2016. He had five last season.
“If you’re a one-trick pony, the last thing I’ll say, if you’re a speed rusher, these tackles set for speed,” said Pat Kirwan, a former front executive and analyst on SiriusXM NFL Radio when asked about Beasley on Tuesday. “If you don’t have a counter that’s real. A power (move) across (their) face that is really good or a spin move, if you don’t a second (move). Most times you need three things, but if you have two, you’ve got a chance. If you’re just a one dimensional rusher, you’re not going to get very far in the NFL against these tackles.”
3. The invisible rushing attack: The offensive line has not opened up much room in the running game. The Falcons have rushed 157 times for 583 yards for a sub-par 3.7 yards per carry and seven rushing touchdowns.
With a chance to run out the clock against the Bucs, the Falcons were stymied on a third-and-2. The short-yardage offense hasn’t improved since they had to pass on third-and-1 in the Super Bowl.
“We’ve got work to do there still,” head coach Dan Quinn said of the run blocking. “We have got to find ways to get running backs Tevin (Coleman) and Ito (Smith) more space. We are going to continue to work really hard at that.”
4. Missed tackles: Going into game against the Giants, the Falcons missed 64 tackles, which was the third-highest total in the league.
They defense played it’s best game of the season from a tackling standpoint against the Giants running back Saquon Barkley. The Falcons became the first team to hold the rookie sensation to under 100 total yards.
“Some of the things won’t show up on the stat sheet (like) are we improving our tackling,” Quinn said. “We still need to improve our ability to take the ball away.”
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