ON THE FALCONS BEAT
ON THE FALCONS BEAT

Deep ball remains a problem of Falcons

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan discusses how the offense sputtered against the Patriots. Video by D. Orlando Ledbetter
By
Oct 23, 2017

In the case of the Falcons’ deep passing attack, practice makes perfect.

And the Falcons didn’t get a lot of time to practice.

The downfield passing attack has struggled this season for the Falcons, 3-3 after a 23-7 loss to the Patriots Sunday night. One theory is that the Falcons didn’t get to work on the timing of their deep passing game over the offseason because Julio Jones (toe) and speedy wide receiver Taylor Gabriel (lower leg) were out injured.

The Falcons continue to miss on those deep passes in the latest loss. Quarterback Matt Ryan was 0 of 4 when throwing deep passes of 20 or more yards. He is 4 of 23 on deep throws this year and has a 74.4 passer rating on those throws, which ranks 24th out of 33 quarterbacks, according to profootballfocus.com.

About the Author

Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.

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