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Calvin Ridley Reveals Thoughts on Falcons' Growing Pains, 'Matty Ice' and Kyle Pitts

Calvin Ridley discusses the growing pains of a new offense, the composure of Matt Ryan and clutch plays by Kyle Pitts.

Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley was the team's leading pass-catcher last season with 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns.

He is, however, off to a relatively slow start this season. with 20 catches for 175 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers extrapolated across a 17-game season would put him at 113 for 992 yards and six touchdowns. His 8.8 yards per reception is just about half of what he averaged last season (15.3).

READ MORE: Calvin Ridley's Fantasy Value could Sink in 2021

Head coach Arthur Smith joined Atlanta after two successful seasons as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator. Ridley understands there will be some growing pains with a new coach and new offense.

"We're still figuring it out," said Ridley. "We're trying to figure out how we're going to move the ball, (how) teams are going to play us. We're still in that phase of getting better right now. We got win win, so we're trying to stack them."

Quarterback Matt Ryan has engineered dozens of fourth-quarter comebacks in his career, and Sunday's win over the New York Giants was another for the 14-year veteran. Ridley appreciates the calm demeanor of the Falcons' quarterback.

"He's pretty much always the same, always confident," said Ridley. "Always encouraging everyone. 'Another play, another play. We're good, we're in the game,' which is always great for the whole team. He's always encouraging. He's never down. He's always thinking we're going to win the game. Which is always positive."

Ridley couldn't help but smile when speaking of rookie tight end Kyle Pitts and his two fourth-quarter catches, including a 25-yard reception with 1:04 left in the game that set up the game-winning field goal.

"The plays at the end were major," said Ridley of Pitts' work. "He doesn't even know how clutch those plays were because he's so young, and he's still developing and learning. You didn't get the ball all game, and came in the clutch with two big catches, helped us win the game. Those were really big."

The Falcons have a chance to even their record to 2-2, with a meeting with the Washington Football Team on Sunday. Washington enters the game as a 1.5-point favorite at Atlanta.

The Falcons found success in moving the ball in the fourth quarter against the Giants as they put up 10 points to get the win. They'll hope to find more sustained success against the 29th-ranked Washington defense on Sunday. And maybe Ridley will help Atlanta finds its way.