While the football buzzards are flying around Giants quarterback Eli Manning, no one is questioning if Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is washed up.
Ryan has been a touchdown-passing machine as the Falcons, mostly because of injuries, have gotten off to a 2-4 start. Ryan takes a hot hand into the game against Manning and the Giants (1-5) in a Monday Night Football showdown (8:15 p.m., Channel 2 Action News) of two teams trying salvage porous starts to the season.
Ryan passed for 354 yards and three touchdowns and finished with a passer rating of 125.5 in last week’s win over Tampa Bay. Since Week 3, Ryan leads the NFL in passing yards (1,432) and passer rating (128.2) and was tied for first in touchdown passes with 12 before Sunday’s action.
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Because of the record, Ryan has not been able to enjoy his personal hot streak.
“The goal is to play winning football week in and week out,” Ryan said. “I think the biggest thing is to have your mindset on the following week. Playing your best the following week and that’s kind of the blinders that you have to put on as a player.”
Unlike Manning, Ryan does enjoy life without a diva receiver. Julio Jones goes about his business, while Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is a bit of a circus act with his sideline antics.
“He’s about winning,” Ryan said of Jones. “That’s been the case from the moment he stepped into this building. Playing along with guys like Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez. He stepped into a culture of it was about winning and finding ways to score points as an offense.”
In the win over the Bucs, Jones played defense on the final play and forced quarterback Jameis Winston to lateral.
“A lot of that is within him,” Ryan said. “He’s just wired that way as a person.”
Jones, who hasn’t caught a touchdown pass in 11 regular season games, makes his demands with the team concept.
“He also wants the ball too and that’s what you want from those guys, the competitive even with double coverage he feels like he can make plays,” Ryan said. “And wants it and is aggressive in that respect. He just does a great job of being supportive of the team, but he’s also demanding and wants to make plays.”
While the Falcons need Ryan to continue playing at an elite level, the injury ravaged defense, which is giving up 417 yards per game, must figure out ways to at least slow down the Giants.
“Odell is Odell,” Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel said. “Eli is two-time Super Bowl champion regardless of how you want to look at it. Competitors are competitors. Guys who are going to go out and compete no matter what the circumstance is. You look at that as a challenge.”
Controlling rookie running back Saquon Barkley will be key for the Falcons, who are fifth in the league in missed tackles.
“He’s a very superb athlete,” Manuel said. “You’ve got to stop the run and understand where Odell is at all times.”
One of Beckham’s grips in an interview with ESPN was that he wants to be thrown the ball down the field.
“It hasn’t been completed down field, but they are taking their shots down field,” Manuel said. “I think they are going to continue to do that. He’s one of those players just like Michael Thomas, you have to keep feeding him the ball. That’s what he feeds on, he vibes off of that.”
Beckham has caught 45 of 69 targets for 506 yards and one touchdown.
“You understand that at any given moment, he’s a running back again with the ball in his hands,” Manuel said. “So, whether if it be a short pass or something across the middle real quick, he’s looking to break four or five tackles and get up field and now we are all upset.
“He’s very dynamic. You have to know and understand where they are going to get him the ball and how they are going to get him the ball. It has to be no yards after the catch.”
The Giants major weakness has been the offensive line. Manning has been sacked 20 times, third most in the league before Sunday’s action.
The Falcons only have 10 sacks on the season.
“It has to be more consistent,” Manuel said of the pass rush. “We saw sparks of it (over the first six games). You saw the ability that Takk (McKinley) has and Vic (Beasley) has. The combination of both of the guys being together and the issues those guys can create. Now, we have to have more.”
The defensive line is expected to receive a boost from the return of defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who missed the past two games with an ankle sprain.
“Grady is a spark,” Manuel said. “He’s going to come in and do his job for 60 minutes.”
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