Does Coach Arthur Smith Protect Falcons O-Line Better Than It Protects Matt Ryan?
The Atlanta Falcons were dominated in the trenches again last week against the San Francisco 49ers in a crushing loss. It's a recurring theme for these Falcons that a team with a strong defensive front can end any real offensive threat with just four players.
That was the case again on Sunday as the Falcons were just 1 of 5 in the red zone in terms of TD opportunities, rushed for just 2.7 yards per carry, gave up three sacks and allowed 10 quarterback hits.
Matt Ryan has been hit more than any quarterback in the NFL, and he extended his lead against the 49ers in a dubious category.
Coach Arthur Smith had seen progress on the offensive line the last few weeks, but the Falcons regressed against a strong front four of the 49ers.
"Certainly, we had felt the last couple of weeks we had been playing better," said Smith. "I’d argue Carolina has a pretty physical defense, and I think they were second in the league at the time when we played them. We went up there and played pretty well, especially upfront."
"It was kind of the polar opposite this week.''
That is an admission of sorts. Yet Smith insisted, "We’ve made progress, certainly ... We'll continue to work at it.''
The present reality: One hole on the line will make it hard to be an effective offense. With two holes, the offense is dead in the water - and Ryan is on his back.
Right tackles Kaleb McGary and left guard Jalen Mayfield received pass-blocking grades from Pro Football Focus (PFF) of 21.0 and 29.7 respectively. Center Matt Hennessey received a 46.9, right guard Chris Lindstrom a 51.0, and left tackle Jake Matthews a 66.3.
Matthews 66.3 would fall into the "fair" category. Lindstrom and Hennessey get failing grades, while McGary and Mayfield reside in the "What were you even doing out there?" realm.
Smith admitted the struggles on the line impact the Falcons ability to move the ball, but we'll argue he protected the unit in his press conference better than the unity protects Matt Ryan on the field.
"You're playing in situations where you're trying to get the best matchups you can," said Smith. "There's challenges every week. I’m not into ... rationalizing, making excuses. I try to deal with the reality, [which] is we're trying to build this."
"As you build a game plan and where you're trying to attack, we knew [Nick] Bosa was a terrific player. For the most part, I thought that McGary did a pretty good job. (But Bosa) makes a game-changing play. So, you're sitting there trying to think, well 90 percent of the time we’ve got it pretty good.
"It’s never going to be perfect."
On the season, Mayfield is ranked the 76th guard of 81 who have accumulated enough snaps to be eligible by PFF, and McGary is ranked the No. 62 of 83 offensive tackles.
No, it's never going to be perfect, but just upgrading two of the positions on the offensive line to "below average" would be a massive improvement from the "horrific" we watched on Sunday.
The Falcons currently have the No. 9 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and a total of four of the first 73 picks. We say the Falcons must address their deficiencies on the offensive line in the draft and free agency going into 2022, or it's going to be more of the same on offense next year.
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