Three reasons Matt Ryan is not to blame for the Falcons terrible start

Matt Ryan, Jake Matthews, Atlanta Falcons. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Matt Ryan, Jake Matthews, Atlanta Falcons. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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Dan Quinn has been through two defensive coordinators in his five years at the helm of the Atlanta Falcons; he makes the third.

In 2018, we blamed injuries and inexperience on the 7-9 record. Losing Keanu Neal, Deion Jones and Ricardo Allen for most of last year really did hurt that side of the ball. We were told the depth that Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff had on the roster was good enough and something that they told us they addressed.

Bringing in Allen Bailey and Tyeler Davison upfront to bolster the defensive line was a great start. Through three games, those two have played a solid four quarters. That is not good enough. Most of the time Grady Jarrett is out there on his own.

Vic Beasley and Takk McKinley have played several great quarters and been irrelevant for the rest.

Other than signing and keeping Jermaine Grace, who had not actual NFL experience, no changes were made to the linebacking corps. The secondary is a bunch of rookie and second-year players mixed in with a healthy Desmond Trufant and Ricardo Allen and in a passing league, we knew that inexperience was going to be tough.

The problem with the defense is the scheme and the lack of discipline. The Falcons are one of the worst tackling teams in the National Football League. At some point, if you cannot tackle you should not have a job.

A perfect example of the scheme for the Falcons – the Colts had the ball on third and 1 from Falcons 6 yard line Sunday. Atlanta’s secondary was not in press but rather 6 yards off the damn ball, they were literally near the goal line on third and one. If the coaching staff doesn’t understand that, the players themselves have to.

The Atlanta Falcons defense on Sunday gave the Colts seven first down via penalty. How can Matt Ryan be responsible for losses if he isn’t on the field?