Atlanta Falcons: Week Nine Grades Vs Washington
Offensive Birds Who Flew Low in Week 9: None
This is normally the section where I would write about the guys that can play better. However for the first time this season, no one on the offense played bad enough to warrant mentioning in this section. Instead we will go a different route.
Bonus Birds
Matt Ryan – Quarterback
This is a rare week where Matt Ryan didn’t make our top five graded Falcons. However because everyone on offense played so well, Matt Ryan makes our bonus bird section.
Matt Ryan played great once again, completing 26 of his 38 throws for 350 yards and four touchdowns. If not for the one interception he threw, Matt Ryan certainly would have made our top five offensive grades. He had a quarterback rating of 121.6 and completed 68.4 percent of his passes.
Matt Ryan is playing at a level very close to his MVP season of 2016. He is continuing the trend of making a major leap in the second year under an offensive coordinator.
PFF Grade: 75.8
ATL All Day Grade: B
The Atlanta Falcons as a Team
The Atlanta Falcons played great football in every phase of the game, as they dominated the Washington Redskins. The Atlanta offense racked up an impressive 491 total yards. It was a balanced attack, as the Birds passed for 337 yards and rushed for 154 yards.
On defense the Atlanta Falcons gave up 366 yards, but that number is deceiving. Only 79 of those yards came on the ground. Many of the 287 passing yards that the Redskins had, came late in the game on Alex Smith check down passes, after the game was well decided.
Pro Football Focus gave the Falcons a tremendous grade of 88.5 as a team, for the win in Washington. That eclipsed their previous high grade of 77.7, by nearly 11 points. The team also posted season high grades in: offense 84.6, pass blocking 84.9, run game 75.3, run blocking 78.3, and defense 78.1.
It was definitely the most complete game the team has played in all phases of the game this season, and gives the team a new mark to shoot for.