Atlanta Falcons: Four positives from brutal week one loss

The Atlanta Falcons’ offensive line looked vastly improved from last season

The Atlanta Falcons offensive line was every bit as good in week one as they were bad in 2021.

It was a ton of fun to watch the Falcons finally move people up front in the passing game and the running game. They also did it against a pretty good defensive line that tore this team apart last year in both games.

Having Marcus Mariota’s legs certainly helped but it should not take away anything from the performance that the five big guys had. Jake Matthews was his usual self, Elijah Wilkinson and Drew Dalman were solid, Chris Lindstrom was a dominant run blocker, and Kaleb McGary, most surprisingly, was pretty good as a pass blocker.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Atlanta Falcons offensive line gave up just two hurries on 39 pass-blocking snaps. The two offensive tackles gave up one each and that was all for the entire group. If they can play like that then this team will be head and shoulders better this year.

It was even more obvious how great they were in run blocking as Cordarrelle Patterson was running through giant gaps.

If there is one complaint, it is that the five of them combined for five penalties, two were accepted. That must be cleaned up.