Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has been preaching about making sure the offense was balanced.
The Falcons needed a balanced effort to defeat Jacksonville, 23-17, on Sunday at EverBank Field.
The Falcons ran the ball 33 times and Ryan completed 22 of 35 passes for 246 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The offense also came up with clutch 14-play drive that took 6 minutes, 44 second off the clock in the fourth quarter.
For a unit that was coming off a shutout and hadn’t scored two touchdowns in three straight games, it was an offensive explosion.
“We set out to be really balanced today and I thought we were,” Ryan said. “That was big for us. I was proud of the way our offensive line played and how our running backs went in there and battled the entire game.”
The Falcons used both running backs, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, on the opening drive. Freeman rushed for 56 yards on 25 carries and Coleman rushed for 23 yards on four carries. Eric Weems had a carry and Ryan was credited with three attempts.
“It started off real hot,” fullback Patrick DiMarco said. “We were able to run the ball early and keep them honest in the pass game. We opened up some lanes throwing the ball. It was a great job of balance and making everything work.”
After a 5-0 start to the season, the offense has been sputtering about. They were trying to claw out a new identity built around a balance run-pass ratio.
“It feels great,” DiMarco said. “We’ve been so close in some of these prior games. I’m glad that we were able to finish. Which is what coach (Dan) Quinn preaches.
The offensive line was pleased with the results.
“It’s kind like what we’ve been talking about the last couple of weeks, when we get the run game going, it opens up stuff in the pass game and vice versa,” left tackle Jake Matthews said. “I thought we were really balanced today and mixed it up a lot. Obviously, the results show it.”
The fourth-quarter drive was key to win.
“We took a lot of time off the clock and left them in a tough situation,” Matthews said. “Obviously, we would have liked to have scored the touchdown and put it out of reach, but our defense played a great game and were able to get that stop at the end.”
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