Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 16 regular-season games in the last outing, Nov. 21 against the Saints.
Over the past five games, Ryan has thrown five touchdown passes and nine interceptions and was booed by some fans for sliding on a third-down play against the Saints.
Here’s a brief Q&A involving Ryan and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter.
Q: Are you impressed with Buffalo rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso?
A: He's a good rookie. He flies around and makes a lot of plays. It's going to be a tough challenge for us, no doubt about it.
Q: What’s your overall perception of their defense, as they appear to have talent on every level?
A: Yeah, defensively they are difficult. When you look at their depth chart across the board, they have 10 to 12 guys who were first- or second-round picks. So, they've got a lot of talent on that side of the ball. We've got to be ready for it.
Q: How you assess their safeties, Jairus Byrd and Da’Norris Searcy, who’s from Decatur?
A: Byrd is kind of the high guy. He's got really good range. Searcy comes down and plays a lot of what we call the box safety. He's down in their run-fits quite a bit. He's a physical player. They bring him off the edge in their pressure packages. He does a better job than people want to give him credit for when he has to cover in man coverage with their underneath stuff. Across the board, I think their secondary is very solid.
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