Even as the turnovers and losses mount for Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, his support in the locker appears to remain strong.
“Nothing is wrong with Matt Ryan,” Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones said. “Matt Ryan is doing a good job for us. You can look at anybody’s stats and they are going to have turnovers. … Just like I’m going to drop a ball. We just have to stick together and keep fighting. Hopefully, we’ll get this thing turned around.”
With Ryan mired in a slump, the Falcons (6-5) are set to face Tampa Bay (5-6) on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
Ryan has thrown five interceptions over the past two games and eight over the past five games. He has 12 for the season, tied for third-most in the NFL
“He’ll be all right,” wide receiver Roddy White said. “He’ll be fine. We’ll get it together. I promise you. We are going to fix it.”
But the Falcons have been trying to fix things ever since they lost 31-21 to New Orleans on Oct 15. Their only win since then was a 10-7 struggle over Tennessee and backup quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
“It’s football,” right tackle Ryan Schraeder said. “Stuff happens. He’s trying to make a play. I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league still.”
The Falcons seem to be embracing coach Dan Quinn’s message to stick together.
“We were in a dark place last night,” said Quinn on Monday. “That’s as hard as it gets in terms of the struggle we’ve had. Now, how do you get out? You do it together. That’s what so unique about our group. They want to fight. They want to do it together.”
It was distressing sight as Ryan walked off the field following the 20-10 loss to the Vikings, a Pro Bowl quarterback staring at the Georgia Dome floor like he was looking for answers. But his support seems to still be strong.
“It’s like anything that happens in life, you’ve got your family when things aren’t going well,” Schraeder said. “You have to lean on your family and the people who are close to you. It’s the same thing that happens here. We are with each other seven days a week. We care about each other.”
The Falcons are searching for answers for Ryan’s drop-off in performance.
“I don’t know,” Jones said when asked what’s wrong with the offense. “We play very hard every week. Of course you’re going to have some turnovers. You might have a turnover and (some) plays are not going to go right. But we always bounced back. We have great drives, 17-play drives, everything. We are not just scoring.”
Ryan isn’t the chairman of the botched play committee. The Falcons have made a variety of errors.
“It’s week to week,” Jones said. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another. It’s more on us though.”
Against Minnesota, an untimely clipping penalty called away from the ball on tight end Tony Moeaki wiped out a touchdown. Instead of taking the lead on the score, Ryan tossed his second interception a few players later.
“Definitely, it’s a whole different game if we go in there and get the touchdown,” Jones said. “ … Nothing is good when you take touchdowns off the board.”
In the NFC South race, the Falcons fell a distant five games behind the streaking Carolina Panthers (11-0) with five games to play. In the wild-card race, they are tied with Seattle (6-5) for the last spot, but the Seahawks hold the tie-breaker over the Falcons.
“We can’t just depend on people to keep losing,” White said. “This (isn’t) last year where we were just waiting on people to lose and we’d just get it. We have to go out there and win. It don’t feel good when I go home and we’ve lost. That (isn’t) the way you want to go into the playoffs anyway, if you make it.”
About the Author
