With the regular-season opener looming, the Falcons’ offensive line was dominated by the great Ndamukong Suh and the Miami Dolphins in the third exhibition game on Saturday at the refurbished Sun Life Stadium.
The line couldn’t protect quarterback Matt Ryan and for the third straight game, the unit was not able to unleash the rushing attack in the new outside-zone perimeter scheme. After taking three sacks, first-year coach Dan Quinn pulled Ryan in the second quarter.
Overall, Falcons quarterbacks were either sacked or hit on 34.1 percent of the 41 drop backs. They were sacked six times and hit on eight other plays.
It’s clear that the Falcons have to figure out the offensive line issues before facing the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, Sept. 14 to open the season at the Georgia Dome.
Let’s move on to the grades from the 13-9 loss.
Game ball: Adrian Clayborn, defensive tackle. He busted through and got a sack of Miami backup quarterback Matt Moore and recovered a fumble in the third quarter. It was his second straight game with a sack.
Quarterbacks, C. Matt Ryan was 4-of-7 passing for 49 yards. He had a passer rating of 67. Miami coach Joe Philbin felt that the Dolphins disrupted the timing of the Falcons passing attack. T.J. Yates completed 18-of-28 passes for 187 yards and had a passer rating of 83.5. The Falcons were focused on evaluating Yates' accuracy.
Running backs, D. The Falcons were raving about Tevin Coleman's creative 6-yard run. He finished with 2 yards on four carries. Jerome Smith and Terron Ward were also not able to hit the 4 yards per carry mark. "I thought Tevin did a nice job," Ryan said. "In some of the situations he had some tough looks to go against. But I thought the one run where it looked like he was kind of down and he kept the motor running and kind of extended that run… after contact. That thing kind of showcased what he's capable of doing."
Wide receivers/tight ends, C-plus. With Roddy White (elbow) and Julio Jones (rest) not playing, Nick Williams continued to shine. He led the team with four catches and had 43 yards receiving. Leonard Hankerson had three catches for 30 yards. The tight ends have not distinguished themselves in the exhibition games. "Tight end-wise, we are still evaluating all of them," Quinn said. "That position is something that we are looking at hard." Quinn didn't have an update on Tony Moeaki, who left the game with an ankle injury.
Offensive line, F. If Ryan is running for his life this season, the Falcons are doomed. The line didn't hold up against a tough Miami defensive line. Suh and Earl Mitchell wrecked havoc from their tackle slots. "It wasn't perfect," right tackle Ryan Schraeder said. "We've got some things to work on. … (You're going to) make errors." The Falcons don't seem overly concerned about the run game. "We haven't fully put in our game plan," Schraeder said. "We are not trying to give everything away yet. It will start clicking."
Defensive line, B. The Dolphins were held to 75 yards rushing on 26 carries for a respectable 2.9 yards per carry. Clayborn and Schofield registered sacks.
Linebackers, B. Middle linebacker Paul Worrilow led the team with nine tackles and had two tackles for losses. Weakside linebacker Justin Durant had four tackles and strongside linebacker Brooks Reed had one. "We had a couple of situations where we had some adversity," Reed said. "I like how we responded and kept competing. That's what our team is all about." Joplo Bartu came up with a nice interception and 41-yard return.
Defensive backs, B-minus. Ricardo Allen's inexperience at free safety showed on the 46-yard catch-and-run by Miami's Jarvis Landry. Allen, who's being converted from playing cornerback, took a bad angle. He hustled back to Landry, but missed his tackle attempt. Cornerback Robert Alford had a clean game with no penalties and three tackles.
Special teams, B. Kicker Matt Bryant continued to be automatic in the exhibition season. Punter Matt Bosher averaged 46.3 yards on six punts and had a net average for 42.2. However there was a collision between Williams and Devin Hester that was nearly a disaster.
Coaching, B. Quinn was not happy with how the reserves finished the game with two turnovers, when a score could have won the game. He promised that the team would finish games out. He appeared visible upset about the fourth quarter flop. The offensive line needs to get fixed quickly. There remains this eerily silent calm about the lack of the rushing attack. Also, the defensive line was not able to disrupt Miami starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who completed 80 percent (15 of 19) of his passes.
Next up: Falcons (1-2) host the Baltimore Ravens (1-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Georgia Dome.
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