Three things the Atlanta Falcons must do to win on Thanksgiving
By Deen Worley
2. Matt Ryan needs to be protected
Matt Ryan was hit 15 times and was sacked six of them. The Atlanta Falcons offensive line showed no effort in protecting our starting quarterback. That is unacceptable.
Although Shaquil Barrett ended the game sacking Matt Ryan only once, he dominated our offensive line. Barrett hit Ryan a total of five times and then sealed the game off by forcing Ryan to fumble the ball near the end zone as he was running for his life.
Simply put, the offensive must do better.
Matt Ryan lost more yards on sacks against the Bucs (46) than he did when the Rams came to Atlanta (38). The Atlanta Falcons are lucky that Ryan escaped this beating without getting hurt even more than what he already is.
Ryan has been sacked a total of seven times all season putting him at seventh in the league while missing a game due to receiving an injury because he was sacked.
Last Thanksgiving in New Orleans, Ryan fumbled the ball three times due to the poor play by the offensive line.
The amount of flack that Ryan gets from his fans is absurd. Multiple times in a season we are presented with reasons as to why Matt Ryan may not have a career as long as some of these other quarterbacks playing into their late 30s and early 40s. Ryan doesn’t have the protection nor the body type to continually take the blows that he does.
Having a mobile quarterback isn’t the solution to this issue. Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson are two of the league’s most sacked quarterbacks. So, stop with that nonsense.