FLOWERY BRANCH -- Over the offseason, the Falcons talked about adding more explosive plays on offense.
They must throw more deep passes, and everyone from Matt Ryan to Roddy White has arrived at that conclusion.
What’s the use in drafting a fleet receiver like Julio Jones if you’re not going to air it out more?
There are other factors, like the line holding its blocks longer and the backs picking up blitzers. But when it all blends together, more passes have to go deep.
Last season, the Falcons didn’t ask Ryan to air it out often. They might now.
“We just have to make plays when they are there,” Ryan said. “When we have opportunities to make explosive plays we have to make them.”
On passes thrown from 31 to 40 yards, Ryan completed 3 of 11 passes (27.3 percent) for 132 yards, for one touchdown and a quarterback rating of 107.4, which was sixth in the league, according to Stats Pass.
On passes thrown of 41 yards or more, Ryan completed 1 of 5 passes (20 percent) for 45 yards, one touchdown and a quarterback rating of 104.2, which was eighth in the league.
Ryan was not as effective on passes thrown from 21 to 30 yards. He completed 6 of 29 passes (20.7 percent) for 143 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He had a quarterback rating of 41.9 on passes thrown in this range.
Ryan is set to enter his fourth season in the league and has been a quick study in reading defenses. He’ll take the deep pass if it’s there. He has not shown a propensity to throw into coverage often.
Ryan has no problems with airing the ball out down the field. His first pass as a pro was a 62-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins in 2008.
“We can’t miss,” Ryan said when asked about throwing deep. “That’s something we need to work on. I need to be accurate down the field and work on those deeper throws.”
On plays with Jones and White streaking down opposite sides of the field, the safeties have a tough call. They can elect to double Jones and White, and leave tight end Tony Gonzalez open underneath. Or they can leave Jones and/or White in one-on-one coverage, and come up to help on Gonzalez.
Teams dropping their safeties near the line of scrimmage to wait for running back Michael Turner will be susceptible to deep passes off play-action fakes.
The bottom line is the Falcons plan to draw up more route combinations to get receivers open on deeper routes in order to get more long gainers.
“We have to put those guys in position to make plays, and I think the only way to do that is to work on it in practice,” Ryan said. “We have done a good job for the most part in these first couple of days.”
White, who made All-Pro and led the league with 115 catches last season, is ready to streak down the field more. He had a career-low 12.1 yards per catch average last season.
“Matt has to throw them, too,” White said. “Matt has to go out there and throw the ball down the field. That will help the offense out.”
White believes the receivers can get more yards after the catch to create additional big plays.
“We have to go out there and do our jobs as receivers,” White said. “We have to make some guys miss to help Matt out with them explosive plays.”
Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey is comfortable with Ryan’s decision-making. He likes how Ryan sees the field and believes it’s getting bigger for him.
“He’s already advanced in our protection scheme, just in the little time we’ve been together,” Mularkey said. “I know Matt, he’s told me, that he spent a lot of time in the offseason studying himself, studying the offense and studying defenses. I know that will help him this year.”
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