Between draft capital and cold-hard cash, the Atlanta Falcons are one of the NFL teams that have invested the most resources in their offensive line. They even hired one of the best OL coaches in NFL history in Bill Callahan to lead this unit, yet there have been visible issues with the play up front.
Jake Matthews has started to show signs of age, Jawaan Taylor has hit the struggle bus after a solid start to the season, and the guard duo of Matthew Bergeron and Chris Lindstrom have been hit or miss. Frankly, the line play has been a big reason the offense has been as unpredictable as it's been.
According to Spotrac, the only team that's paying more money to their offensive line than the Falcons this season ($84.39M) is the Philadelphia Eagles, who have over $92 million going into the offensive side of the trenches. And so far, they haven't been performing like a unit worthy of that money.
Atlanta signed Matthew Bergeron to a four-year, $96 million extension shortly before the season, making him the third OL they are paying big money to alongside Lindstrom and Matthews. The three of them are combining to make roughly $67 million this season, and that's insane when you consider how bad inconsistent things have been for the big boys.
In the 16-0 loss to the Bucs on Sunday, the Falcons could not generate any sort of offense, and a lot of that blame goes to the guys in the trenches.
The Atlanta Falcons' offensive line is holding the rest of the offense back
And while some vanilla play-calling from Tommy Rees (especially in the run game) is part of the issue, the run blocking was abysmal. The Falcons' offensive linemen got manhandled by the Bucs' stout run defense, which make it incredibly difficult for Bijan Robinson to generate any sort of explosives.
In Matthews' case, it's time to start searching for his long-term successor because Father Time has all but caught up to him. He's slow and is easy to beat around the edge, but we knew this would happen eventually. Frankly, I wouldn't even say he was the biggest problem on the OL in Week 8.
The bigger concern is Lindstrom and Bergeron, since they're the highest-paid guard duo in the NFL. Against the Bucs, the run blocking from the interior was awful. They failed to surpass rushing 100 yards in a torrential downpour even though Bijan was the only offensive player giving them life.
The Dirty Birds' subpar run blocking is failing Bijan and making his job harder than it needs to be, since he makes them look good instead of vice versa. You have the best running back in the world, yet the guys you're paying to block for him melt down whenever they face a good run defense. And while it was clear they missed Brian Robinson Jr., there is no excuse for this performance.
Here's what doesn't make sense: if the IOL can't take over a game, why are they getting paid more than just about everyone? It's not like you're gonna trade them (especially not Chris Lindstrom), but that Matt Bergeron deal is at risk of aging horribly if he doesn't get it together.
This new regime has said they want to build this team from the trenches, and while they have some pieces to do just that, the guys they'e paying have struggled. So the Falcons may have to consider retooling the offensive line a bit and address the $67 million concern they are dealing with right now before it gets any worse.
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