Atlanta Falcons: Week Nine Grades Vs Washington
Jake Matthews – Left Tackle
Jake Matthews has been a steady fixture of the Atlanta Falcons offensive line, since being drafted by the club in 2014. He played one of his best games of the season in week nine.
Jake wasn’t flawless on the afternoon, as he did allow two pressures on quarterback Matt Ryan, including one sack and one hurry.
Typically pass blocking is Jake Matthews strong suit, but it was run blocking that earned him accolades for his week nine play. He was a huge reason that the Atlanta Falcons had their second highest rushing yardage total of the season, and his blocks helped spring several successful runs.
Pro Football Focus watched the tape and gave Jake Matthews a season high run blocking grade of 86.9. Overall he was graded 85.0.
PFF Grade: 85.0
ATL All Day Grade: A
Wes Schweitzer – Left Guard
Wes Schweitzer and his struggles have been well documented. After starting all of 2017 he was replaced in the starting lineup by Brandon Fusco this season. With injuries to Fusco and Andy Levitre Wes was forced back into the starting lineup.
The struggles have resumed this season for Wes Schweitzer as Pro Football Focus ranks him as the number 50 guard in the NFL.
Week nine was different, as Schweitzer had his best game of the season. He held up solidly in run blocking, but pass blocking was what he did extremely well against Washington. He gave up zero pressures in 44 snaps Sunday. PFF gave him a career best pass blocking grade of 87.3.
Overall Wes Schweitzer was graded a 77.2 for the game, which is a season high for him. The performance brings hope that the light could possibly be coming on for Schweitzer. It’s my hope that Wes is able to build on this game and put together a string of consecutive good performances.