TAMPA – Falcons center Todd McClure returned to the lineup against Tampa Bay on Sunday.
He had knee surgery on Sept. 1 and did not play in the first two games of the season, snapping a streak of 144 consecutive starts.
There was some hope that McClure’s return would help to fortify the offensive line, but the group had another porous outing.
Quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked four times and hit four times. For the season, Ryan has been sacked 13 times and hit 21 times. Last season, he was sacked just 23 times.
“It was good to get back out there because it was tough to sit and watch,” McClure said. “But we didn’t play like we needed to up front. It’s tough when you see [Ryan] laying on the ground. Obviously, none of us like to see that.”
Over the last two drafts, Tampa Bay has revamped their defensive line. They took defensive tackles Gerald McCoy (first round) and Brian Price (second round) in 2010 and defensive ends Adrian Clayborn (first round) and Da'Quan Bowers (second round) in the last draft.
All of them enjoyed some time in the Falcons' backfield. Clayborn had one brutal sack of Ryan after spinning around left tackle Sam Baker. Price had a sack and two quarterback hits. McCoy had a quarterback hit.
“There is a lot of improvement that we need to make in our protections because we are not just getting the job done right now,” McClure said.
Ryan was sacked and fumbled on the third play of the game. Tampa Bay linebacker Dekoda Watson, rushing from defensive end, used his speed to get around right tackle Tyson Clabo. Cornerback Ronde Barber recovered the ball.
Ryan was not sacked in either of the Falcons’ wins over the Bucs last season.
However, the most troubling thing for Falcons coach Mike Smith was that the offensive line was not able to get the running game going.
“When you stop the run, you control the line of scrimmage,” Smith said.
That does not bode well for the future if the Bucs were able to control the line of scrimmage with a bunch of second- and first-year players.
“It’s tough because everybody in that huddle believed that we were going to get it done,” McClure said. “We were going to go down and score a touchdown, but we fell short. It’s one game, but there is obviously a lot that needs to be improved.”
Punt off
Former Falcons punter Michael Koenen averaged 43 yards on three punts and placed one inside the 20-yard line.
Falcons rookie punter Matt Bosher averaged 31.3 yards on three punts and placed one inside the 20.
Bosher had three touchbacks to Koenen’s two.
Where’s the pressure?
Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards got off to a slow start in Minnesota last year. He had one sack over the first seven games before finishing with eight sacks.
He has not recorded a sack in three games with the Falcons after signing a five-year, $30 million contract as a free agent.
Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman has been sacked only once in 79 attempts this season. Defensive ends Kroy Biermann and John Abraham did get quarterback hits on Freeman.
“This is not how we play,” Abraham said. “The penalties, the turnovers, that’s not how we play ball. We have to work on ourselves before we worry about other teams. The missed tackles and things like that. We just can’t get on the field and play. We’ve got to do the same thing that we did last year.”
Abraham didn’t absolve himself. He noted that he had a bad penalty last week against Philadelphia on a third down.
“That’s inexcusable,” Abraham said. “Just like my penalty on third down, lining up offsides. That was just a mental error.”
Early interception
After the Falcons' fumbled on the third play of the game, safety Thomas DeCoud bailed them out with an interception of Freeman in the end zone.
“It was a call that allowed me to free up,” DeCoud said. “I can play the run or the pass. I didn’t bite on the play-action fake and I stepped back into coverage. I saw the ball and then went to go get it.”
Peterson starts for Nicholas
Starting strongside linebacker Stephen Nicholas, who suffered a calf injury and was listed on the Friday injury report as questionable, was inactive.
Nicholas had played in the last 58-straight regular-season games. He was last inactive against San Francisco on Nov. 4, 2007, during his rookie season.
Mike Peterson, who started at weakside linebacker in 29 of 32 games over the last two seasons, will take over for Nicholas. Peterson played on special teams in the first two games of the season.
Also, the Falcons were without cornerback Kelvin Hayden, who suffered a hamstring injury against Philadelphia. Other inactives included: cornerback Darrin Walls, center Brett Romberg, guard Mike Johnson, defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux and defensvie end Cliff Matthews.
Peterson finished with five tackles.
Etc.
Last season on their march to the NFC South title and the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, the Falcons were 6-2 on the road and won all of the NFC road matchups against division foes Tampa Bay, Carolina and New Orleans. . . The Bucs had scored just a field goal in the first half of two games before facing the Falcons. They held a 13-3 lead at halftime. . .Kicker Matt Bryant connected on a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter, marking his 19th consecutive made field goal dating back to 2010. This season, Bryant has hit all three of his field goal attempts.
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