Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is a slave to his routine.
But with the Falcons (2-5) set to face the Detroit Lions (5-2) in the NFL’s International Series at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Wembley Stadium, he’s had to make a few adjustments.
“The most difficult part was probably the first two days of being over here and getting acclimated to the time difference,” Ryan said on Wednesday. “I think the guys are really excited about being in a different spot, a little change of venue, and playing in front of what we’ve heard is a great crowd.”
Ryan compares the trip across the pond to the team traveling to the Seattle in the northwest. The Falcons are used to having close NFC South games against the Carolina, Tampa Bay and New Orleans.
Ryan loves those short flights of a little over a hour.
Some are still adjusting.
“Over here, I woke up at 8:22 (a.m.) today local time,” wide receiver Julio Jones said. “I was in and out. I think I woke up at 2 o’clock. I mean it’s difficult over here with this time. Five hours? So it’s been rough on me.”
The Falcons left from Baltimore and arrived Monday morning.
“We got right off the plane and went to a Play 60 appearance at a local school,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We got the guys moving around and we wanted to stay up as long as they possibly could that first day.”
The team’s athletic performance staff also made a presentation to the players. They wanted them to get up early and open the windows to their rooms in order to get used to the air and to seeing sunlight at a time when their bodies would normally be dormant.
“I think it’s worked well,” Smith said. “I personally feel very acclimated. We wanted to keep it as close as we possibly could to a regular week and that’s why we came over so early.”
Now, that most of the team is comfortable in a different country, they’ve embraced the fact that they have a “must-win” game in London.
Since the NFL went to the 12-team playoff format in 1990, no team has started the season 2-6 and reached the playoffs.
“Now is the time for us to go out there and play the way that we are capable of in all three phases,” Ryan said. “I think at different times throughout the season, we’ve kind of played well in all three phases of the game. We just haven’t really been able to put it together consistently.”
Ryan, who will be playing with his third starting center and fifth different starting offensive line combination, believes the team can rally together against the Lions, who boasts of the No. 1.
After Ryan was sacked five times, hit nine times and hurried on 19 passes last week against the Ravens, it’s clear the Falcons must lean on their rushing attack which has been anemic and better pass protection.
“Both of those things will allow you to do some play-action and take some more time in the pocket and throw it down the field a little bit more, Ryan said.
Ryan and Jones are both expecting the Lions attack the line of scrimmage and leave the wide receivers in one-on-one situations.
“We’re going to make the adjustments,” Ryan said. “That’s a big part of what we’ve been. We’ve got to find ways to create more explosive plays.”
Since the injuries started to mount in the Minnesota game, the Falcon have scored 28, 20, 13 and 7 points. The team’s net yards have similarly decreased from 411 yards, 397, 287 to 254.
Ryan passed for a season-low 228 yards last week against the Ravens.
“We need to score points early,” Ryan said. “We need to be in games as opposed to playing from behind. We’ve had to do that a little bit the last couple of weeks.”
Ryan has a few other things to jumpstart the offense.
“The other thing I think we need to do is that we have to stay ahead of the chains,” Ryan said. “On first down and second downs, we need to be more efficient. We have to get into more situations where it’s conducive to running the football.”
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