3 Things the Atlanta Falcons learned in their win over Detroit
By Nick Halden
2. In the middle of dysfunction, Matt Ryan was the steadying factor in Atlanta’s win
The pass protection early on for the Atlanta Falcons was non-existent and allowed Ryan to take punishment yet again. There is a reason Ryan is leading the NFL in hits taken in the midst of what has been a statistical down season for the veteran.
What the stat line won’t tell you is that Ryan managed to lead his team despite having few open receivers and very little pass protection. Still, Ryan did what Ryan does best spread the football and efficiently do everything he needed to win.
Ryan hit eight different receivers and completed 18/24-passing for 215-passing yards and a touchdown. Looking at the box score doesn’t tell the story of how well Ryan played despite having little help around him outside of Kyle Pitts.
Ryan has been far from perfect this season but he is also clearly not part of the problem. With the worst cast, Atlanta has ever given the veteran has managed to win seven games and keep Atlanta relevant deep into December.
Much as with the aforementioned Pitts if Atlanta can manage to support Ryan by improving the offensive line and his options at receiver this offense are going to put up big numbers.