There were a handful of throws by Matt Ryan in the past two games that made me wonder: What’s wrong? I’m not talking about inexplicable interceptions like that pick six against the Colts. That’s just a bad decision. No, what I mean are those plays in which Ryan makes a good decision but just can’t put the ball where it needs to go.
Passes sailed well over the heads of open receivers on intermediate routes. They fell short of streaking targets on deep patterns. There’s no zip on his passes, which tail off late. The accuracy isn’t there.
“Matt Ryan, he’s getting worse,” Rodney Harrison said, and not for the first time, on NBC’s Football Night in America.
Four head-scratching Ryan throws stood out for me on Sunday at the Dome, all of them in the fourth quarter:
- On first down Julio Jones got a couple of steps behind safety Clayton Geathers, who has no hope of covering Jones. Ryan's pass fell short about 58 yards downfield. Jones shook his head, hands on hips.
- Two plays later Ryan had Leonard Hankerson open on left sideline beyond the first-down marker. The pass, from the Falcons' nine-yard line to the Falcons' 34, sailed high and well wide of Hankerson.
- Jones had another mismatch, this time against second-string cornerback Josh Thomas, on another third down. The threat of Jones going deep had Thomas backpedaling and giving five yards of cushion, so Jones was wide open when he broke for the sideline. Ryan's pass was nowhere near Jones and sailed out of bounds, prompting boos from frustrated Falcons fans (and another hands-on-hips pose by Jones).
- And, finally, there was the Hail Mary pass to end the game. Ryan rolled to his right and put everything he had into the throw from the Falcons' 38-yard line. The ball made it to the Colts' eight-yard line, 54 yards away.
Ryan also had some off-kilter throws against the 49ers. Most of them were sideline routes beyond the sticks that fluttered high and wide, like those passes to Hankerson and Jones on Sunday. It’s true that he’s never had elite arm strength but those are the kind of throws Ryan usually makes, so why isn’t he making them now?
You won’t get much insight from coach Dan Quinn, who has established that he’s not going to publicly scrutinize his quarterback’s play—a question about Ryan’s play Sunday got an answer about the Falcons not being their best in “all phases” Ryan has always accepted his share of the blame but he’s not inclined to into specifics about his struggles.
My eyes tell me that something just isn't right with Ryan. I figured that once he solved his fumbling issues he'd get back on track. He's not fumbling anymore but now his accuracy is an issue, for some reason.
“It happens,” Jones offered in defense of his quarterback. “You are going to have your ups and your downs. It is all about how you deal with it. If you are down, are you going to stay down, or you are going to get up? It depends on the individual. We are here for him and vice-versa. When we are down, he is here for us.”
Matt Ryan is trending down. Maybe his teammates can figure out what's wrong.
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