A position-by-position look at the Falcons after four games

The rest has been average football below their very own standard.

While taking on a rash of injuries, they made just enough plays to get past Chicago and Detroit. They just couldn’t pull another rabbit out of their helmets against Buffalo.

Perhaps from their “Tell the Truth” sessions on Mondays, they know it’s been a spotty start to the season, too.

“It’s not 4-0,” left tackle Jake Matthews said. “Obviously, we’d like that. We’ve done some good things, but we can do a lot better. We are doing some things good, but not anywhere near where we want to be. We have to continue to get better.”

The early bye gives the Falcons a chance to re-set and focus. They now know what it’s like to get everyone’s best shot. Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo got after them. They knocked Green Bay down before they made the final score look respectable while in scramble mode.

Without two goal-line stands and the 10-second run-off rule, the Falcons could very easily be 1-3.

“We have high expectations for ourselves as a team and anytime that we don’t reach those, we’re going to be hard on ourselves,” Matthews said. “At the end of the day, it’s about winning.”

The run defense has been solid, but there are still too many missed tackles and the problem of covering a tight end popped up again.

“We’ve been playing good,” middle linebacker Deion Jones said. “We put some good things on tape. There are some things that we can hone in on and get better”

Jones has noticed that it’s a little different being the defending NFC champs.

“We just have to realize that we’re going to get the best shot from every team,” Jones said. “We have to be prepared for that and play our style of ball until the clock hits zero.”

Here are the quarterly position-by-position grades for the Falcons:

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks: Matt Ryan looked a little off against Buffalo and the time missed over the offseason by Julio Jones and Taylor Gabriel because of injuries has hindered the passing offense. They timing is off on passes traveling 10 yards or more. Ryan has completed 88 of 135 passes (65.2 percent) for 1,109 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. He's on pace for 20 interceptions, which would be a career-high. Grade: C-plus

Running backs: Devonta Freeman is on pace to rush for 1,183 yards and 20 touchdowns. Tevin Coleman is also off to a strong start. He has broken explosive runs, but is getting tripped up to often after he gets into the open field. Fullback Derrick Coleman has been solid. The team still continues to call passes in short-yardage situations. They need to solve that sitatuation. When they needed a yard against Buffalo early in the game, Freeman got in behind left guard Andy Levitre and center Alex Mack to get into the endzone. Grade: A

Wide receivers: Julio Jones has not scored a touchdown and Grabriel's lone score was on a 40-yard screen play. When the reserves had to play against Buffalo, the foiled the offense with five dropped passes. The receivers and Ryan must get their timing down. Three of Ryan's interceptions were off tipped balls. Grade: C-plus 

Tight ends: Austin Hooper had the big game against Chicago and has since been invisible in the offense as a pass catcher. Toilolo had been steady as a blocker and Eric Saubert is contributing on special teams. Grade: C 

Offensive line: The offense line won't speak out but they'd like to run the ball in short yardage situations. "From an offensive linemen's perspective, all we can do is protect," said Matthews, when asked about the third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 passes against Buffalo. "For the most part, on that last play we did a decent job of that. We have to get it done and we didn't get it done." Center Alex Mack understood, but dodged the question. "There is a timer there," Mack said. "You'd be hurried up the next play. I think there is a threat. We almost ran it, there was a check if they come out in something that was advantageous to us or we could have run it." Mack is going to stay in his place. "I think the best thing to do is have confidence in your play-caller and do what you're told," Mack said. "That sounds so bad, but it's not my job to question the call. I've given that up way back in college. This is what they do. This is the chess game that coaches play. I let them do that. It makes my job real easy to not second guess."  Grade: C-plus 

DEFENSE

Defensive line: Defensive tackles Grady Jarrett and Dontari Poe are playing well together. Joe Vellano is getting his shot inside with injuries to Courtney Upshaw and Jack Crawford, who was place on injured reserve on Tuesday. Even with All-Pro defensive end Vic Beasley missing two games, the pass rush has been much improved. Brooks Reed has been an early surprise as he leads the team with three sacks including one that secured the Chicago victory. Beasley, who led the league in sacks last season with 15.5, and Adrian Clayborn have two sacks each and Brian Poole, Takkarist McKinley, Derrick Shelby, De'Vondre Campbell and Deion Jones all with a sack each. With 12 sacks, the Falcons are on pace for 48, which would be 14 more than last season and is tied for third in the league. Jacksonville leads with 18. Last season, Arizona led the league with 48 sacks. The Falcons also have 27 quarterback hits. Grade: B 

Linebackers: Rookie weakside linebacker Duke Riley is adjusting to the speed of the game and is missing too many tackles. The Falcons are confident he'll come around. The Falcons spent a great deal of time over the offseason working on defending tight ends. Chicago's Mike Glennon didn't test them. They played well against Green Bay's Martellus Bennett and Detroit's Eric Ebron before Buffalo's Charles Clay looked like John Mackey catching five passes for 112 yards. Grade: C-plus

Defensive backs: Trufant had a good game against Green Bay, but was clearly shaking off some rust Detroit and Buffalo. Nickel back Brian Poole is tenacious, while Robert Alford has been strong. Rookie Damontae Kazee played well for Ricardo Allen at free safety against Buffalo.  Grade: C-plus

Special teams: Kicker Matt Bryant has made all of his field goal kicks and ranks tied for fourth in the NFL with 33 points. He made field goals of 51 and 53 yards against Green Bay. Punter Matt Bosher and returner Andre Roberts are off to solid starts. However, the coverage units are getting too many penalties and the team missed Ra'Shede Hageman, who was released after his domestic violence case was adjudicated, against Buffalo when Steven Hauschka was able to sneak low kicks through on 56 and 55-yard field goals. Grade: C-plus

Coaching: It's a minor coaching miracle that the Falcons are 3-1 with how poorly they've played. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian had all offseason to come up with a short-yardage plan. It looks like he wants to finesse things, too. The Falcons need a power package or a big jumbo package to get a yard or two when they need it. The Falcons must continue to work on covering tight ends. After Clay's explosions, they'll see those same routes over and over until they stop them. New defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel has not been afraid to blitz as three of the 12 sacks are from a linebacker (Jones and Campbell) or defensive back (Poole). The Falcons must tighten things up and get the message through to the players that everybody is coming with their A-game. Even Jay Culter and the Dolphins are waiting for them. Then on to New England, so on and so forth. Grade C-plus