Falcons coach Kyle Shanahan has cited turnovers to explain his unit’s recent struggles to score points.
The issue didn’t get any better against the Colts on Sunday at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons committed three turnovers, none more costly than quarterback Matt Ryan’s interception that Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson returned for a touchdown to tie the game at 21-21 in the fourth quarter.
Ryan tried to throw a short pass to tight end Jacob Tamme in the middle of the field. He didn’t appear to see Jackson, who stepped in front of the pass for the interception and ran into the end zone.
It was Ryan’s second interception of the game. His pass in the first quarter intended for Roddy White was tipped near the five-yard line and intercepted in the end zone by safety Dwight Lowery. The Falcons had gained a first down at the Colts’ 16-yard line.
The Falcons had another potentially costly turnover when running back Tevin Coleman lost a fumble at their 21-yard line on the final play of the third quarter. The Falcons got the ball back three plays later when safety Ricardo Allen intercepted Matt Hasselbeck’s pass at the two-yard line.
The Falcons committed no turnovers against the 49ers in their previous game. But they had three turnovers in a loss to the Saints and four giveaways in a defeat to the Buccaneers, and four of those seven turnovers happened in the opponent’s red zone.
“I don’t look at those as, ‘man we’re struggling,’” Shanahan said in the days before the Colts game. “I look at it as frustrating because you’re moving the ball, but you don’t have the points to show for it. So you look at why don’t you score those points. We looked into all of that stuff in two of those games. A lot of that stuff was turnovers.”
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