Atlanta Falcons Offense: Week 11 Grades Versus Dallas
High Flyers
Matt Ryan – Quarterback
This wasn’t the absolute best performance of the season for quarterback Matt Ryan, however Matt did play well. Ryan completed 24/34 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown. He also was charged with one interception, but the pick was not his fault at all. The ball bounced right off wide receiver Calvin Ridley‘s hands and to a defender.
Matt Ryan faced pressure from the Dallas Cowboys all afternoon. He was sacked three times and hit an unacceptable nine times in the contest. His wide receivers dropping two passes didn’t help the cause, nor did the one pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage.
Despite the adversity, Matt Ryan posted a 94.1 quarterback rating. He threw for 13 first downs on the day. Most of Ryan’s damage was done between the hash marks, where he completed 14/18 for 164 yards.
The main criticism of Ryan and the entire offense, is they only converted 50 percent on third down, causing the team to settle for too many field goals. There was one possession that the Atlanta Falcons settled for three, despite being on the Cowboys’ two yard line.
Even facing a lot of pressure Matt Ryan came up clutch against Dallas. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to will his team to a win.
Pro Football Focus Grade: 74.6
ATL All Day Grade: B
Tevin Coleman – Running Back
Tevin Coleman showed great burst and ability to get to the second level in week 11. Unfortunately he did not get the ball enough. He ran the ball eight times for 58 yards, an average of 7.3 yards per carry. He ran for four first downs but did not find the end zone.
Additionally Tevin was targeted three times in the passing game, catching all three targets for 27 yards. That’s a total of 85 yards on only 11 touches.
Most of Coleman’s work was done on the left edge with four touches for 27 yards in that direction. He also found nice room between center Alex Mack and right guard Ben Garland on two occasions totalling 20 yards. He added a 17 yard scamper between left tackle Jake Matthews and left guard Wes Schweitzer.
Where Tevin Coleman didn’t fare well was pass blocking. He allowed a pressure and subsequent hit on quarterback Matt Ryan in only four pass blocking attempts. That earned him an ugly pass blocking grade of 26.5 by Pro Football Focus.
As well as Tevin Colman played, its amazing that he split carries with rookie Ito Smith who averaged 1.7 yards per carry. He also only averaged six yards per reception compared to Coleman’s nine.
Tevin only carried the ball two more times than his backup and had just three more touches overall. Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian has got to recognize when a running back has the hot hand and distribute the touches accordingly.