TAMPA, Fla. – Falcons – The Buccaneers took a couple of Matt Ryan’s passes into the end zone in the fourth quarter as the Falcons upset bid failed miserably.
After getting within striking distance Ryan and the offense was dominated as the Bucs pulled away for a 48-25 victory on Sunday.
“It’s tough,” Ryan said. “I have to look at both of them. I obviously thought I could get both of them out, that’s part of playing.”
The Falcons came back from an 18-point deficit and were within three points before the fourth-quarter collapse. “Credit to them,” Ryan said. “They changed the tide. Did a good job in the fourth quarter putting us away.”
The Falcons have started the season 0-2, but Ryan didn’t want to hear about the gruesome stats about 0-2 teams not making the playoffs.
“We can throw that out,” Ryan said. “Seventeen game schedule now, it’s all different. I don’t want to hear those statistics.”
After not scoring a touchdown in the opener against the Eagles, the Falcons’ offense, which was disjointed at times, did score three touchdowns, but couldn’t move the Bucs’ in short-yardage situations.
In all the, Bucs tipped eight passes by Ryan.
“I think there are things we can improve on,” Ryan said. “I think there are a lot of things we can correct. Which is a positive for us moving forward. I think the effort has been good. I think we need to be a little bit more detailed across the board. If we can do that, I think we can be a good football team moving forward.”
Last week, Ryan called the passing game “choppy.”
After this battle, he was concerned about continuity.
“I think just being all on the same page, both in the run game and the pass game,” Ryan said. “We are targeted to the correct people at all times. We’re at our route depths. I’m efficient getting the ball out when I need to get it out. Going to the right spaces against certain looks. It’s all those type of things.”
Unlike the Bucs, the Falcons don’t have room for the mistakes they have been making. They had to use two timeouts in the first half when the clocking was running down and when they didn’t have enough players on the field.
“The margin of error….in this league is very small,” Ryan said. “The teams that are consistent week to week are the teams that are very detailed. That’s my message for guys moving forward. Let’s focus on our details and try and get those things right.”
Rookie tight end Kyle Pitts was more of a factor in the offense.
He caught five passes for 73 yards, which led the team in receiving yards. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley and running back Mike Davis had seven receptions each.
“I thought Kyle did a nice job for us,” Ryan said. “He made a couple of good explosive plays for us. Caught contested balls. I thought his effort was awesome. Thought his route running was really good. I really think as he moves forward during the year that he’s going to continue to get better and better, the more comfortable and more experienced that he gets.”
Despite suffering two losses by a total of 49 points, Ryan sees hope for this team.
“I think there is fight,” Ryan said. “I think there are guys that compete. They give you everything that they’ve got. When you have guys like that, you have a chance.”
Ryan believes the sometimes sloppy play must be fixed. The Falcons committed six penalties for 49 yards.
“I think we’ve all collectively (must) be more detailed,” Ryan said. “Tighten things up. Be more on the same page in all three phases and continue to get better. I’m optimistic. Disappointed, but optimistic with the type of effort that we are getting from the guys and the way they are focused and working during the week.”
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Atlanta Falcons Schedule
Sunday: Falcons at Tampa Bay, Sept. 19 at 4:05 p.m.
Falcons at New York Giants, Sept. 26 at 1 p.m.
Washington FT at Falcons, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.
New York Jets vs. Falcons in London, Oct. 10 at 9:30 a.m.
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