Atlanta Falcons beatdown Sunday will rest on the offensive line

The Atlanta Falcons offensive line is the key to beating Tampa Bay Sunday.

We have heard this a lot over the last four years – the Atlanta Falcons offensive line being the key to victory. But when you are facing off against the best defensive line unit in the NFL, it is absolutely true.

Atlanta’s offensive line went from a strength to a weakness in the last four seasons.

When the Falcons made the inexplicable run to the Super Bowl in 2016, they were the only team in football to have all five offensive line starters play all five games and take the majority of the snaps. Since that second-half meltdown, the offensive line has been anything but good.

The leader of the offensive line, center Alex Mack, needs to retire. He clearly passes his prime and has become a hindrance instead of strength upfront. This should be his last year in Atlanta.

The guards – James Carpenter, Matt Hennessy, Chris Lindstrom, and Justin McCray are what they are. Carpenter and McCray aren’t good, Hennessy is a true center and Lindstrom is the best offensive lineman that the Atlanta Falcons have but he can’t do it all on his own.

Finally, the Falcons’ tackles are average at best.

Jake Matthews spends a lot of time with his hands on his hips as Matt Ryan lays on the ground. Right tackle Kaleb McGary has been better than in 2019 but still has games where he will give up three to four sacks and Matt Gono can’t seem to please anyone to get enough time on the field.

Last week against Joey Bosa, Gono did a terrific job in the place of McGary and should have earned a lot more playing time moving forward.

The Bucs have one of the best defensive line groups in the NFL.

The Bucs defensive line is older and extremely experienced with guys like Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh. Sure, they aren’t what they once were athletically but they are older and wiser and have years of elite-level success.

They also anchor the NFL’s best rushing defense as the Bucs give up just 80 yards per game on the ground. They have only given up more than 50 yards to a running back once this year and that was to Dalvin Cook last week when he had 102 yards on 22 carries.

Cook and Derrick Henry are the only two running backs in the NFL with at least 1,300 yards rushing in 2020.

The only player to rush for at least 50 yards on the Bucs in 2020 – Tayson Hill who had 66 a month ago.

Good, bad or ugly, whatever happens, this week offensively will be dictated by the offensive line. If the four wins are any indication, Sunday won’t be pretty for the Falcons.