Atlanta Falcons Jalen Mayfield needs to be directed to the bench

Among the endless list of atrocities that was the Atlanta Falcons loss near the top of that list sits offensive guard Jalen Mayfield. Mayfield was incapable on Sunday and consistently beat and driven back into quarterback Matt Ryan.

Mayfield appeared to be a college athlete over his skis attempting to stop elite NFL pass rushers. While the offensive line as a whole struggled the biggest eyesore was Mayfield. Jalen constantly was beaten and because of it, Matt Ryan took the punishment.

Ryan is a 36-year old veteran who is immobile and as tough as he is simply cannot take this level of punishment consistently. Atlanta is going to have to address the obvious problem and find a way to replace Mayfield.

The Atlanta Falcons need to bench Mayfield if they have any hope of keeping Ryan upright

While the rest of the offensive line certainly needs to improve there is a reason for optimism. For Mayfield, there is little reason to think he is going to improve after going up against what was thought to be an aging Eagles defensive line.

Ryan had a 300-pound defensive lineman collapsing the interior of his line instantly after taking the snap. While Ryan deserves a portion of the blame for the Falcons’ ugly loss it is hard to fault him in the second half after watching the punishment the veteran took.

Mayfield simply isn’t ready nor capable of starting and protecting Matt Ryan. Whether Atlanta opts to attempt to fix this problem in free agency or within their own roster it is a move they must make.

Week two will see the Falcons take on a Tampa pass rush far superior to the Eagles. A pass rush that will make life hard on Ryan even without Mayfield walking them into the backfield. Atlanta certainly has a long list of problems to fix and at the top is Jalen Mayfield.