A chilly start to Ryan's step-up season

[theProf]

A chilly start to what’s being billed as Ryan’s step-up season
12:14 pm September 13, 2010, by Mark Bradley

He was the right draftee at the right time, and he was the best rookie quarterback the NFL has ever seen. (Yes, better than Dan Marino and better than Ben Roethlisberger.) But even the greatest rookie ever should get better, and honesty compels me to report that I’m not sure Matt Ryan has.

I know he got hurt last season. I also he know he faced a proud defense on its home turf Sunday and wasn’t overwhelmed. Neither was he able to lead his team to a touchdown. We can and will argue for days whether this was due to Ryan missing throws or Mike Mularkey, the offensive coordinator, playing to lose, but when a team widely seen as having a playoff pedigree plays a dog of a game on Opening Day … well, who’s the highest-paid Falcon?

Even as a rookie, Ryan was never really a rookie. He always knew what he was doing, which is how he led a team coming off a wretched season to the playoffs in one sweet autumn. That said, Ryan hasn’t been a rookie for two years now, and there are moments when he seems uncertain. There are also moments when it seems Mularkey is trying to protect his quarterback the way Georgia’s Mark Richt and Mike Bobo did Aaron Murray at South Carolina on Saturday.

Which makes no sense. Murray is a redshirt freshman, Ryan a full-blooded professional. Even before they drafted him, the Falcons gushed over his capacity to absorb on the fly, and what happened when first he threw the ball in an NFL game? Boom! (Sorry to go all Madden on you.) A 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins down the hash mark, the ball finding Jenkins at full gallop.

Question: When last did we see Ryan make that throw? Most everything now is an out or a curl. (Hard to make yards after the catch on those.) He threw 44 times for 252 yards Sunday — a puny average of 5.7 yards per attempt. His longest completion was for 23 yards. Dennis Dixon, the third-stringer deployed by the Steelers, threw only 26 times but completed a 52-yarder and a 25-yarder, and Pittsburgh on Sunday was the team needing to nurse its quarterback.

Ryan and Mularkey were a splendid pair in 2008. They’ve been less splendid since. It isn’t, as some maintain, that Mularkey insists on pounding the ball to excess. The Falcons threw 19 more times Sunday than they ran. It’s the downfield component of this offense that has been lost. Asked what was missing Sunday, receiver Roddy White said: “More big plays. More explosive plays.”

The offensive line didn’t push the Steelers backward, but the Steelers, as noted, are themselves good at pushing. Michael Turner didn’t have many holes and created none on his own. The Falcons had to win by passing, and they couldn’t. (And Troy Polamalu’s flying interception nearly lost it in regulation.)

This isn’t to suggest the Falcons need to change quarterbacks. If anything, they need to trust more in the one they have. Ryan proved as a rookie he has what it takes to win in the NFL. But those among us who saw him back then and said to ourselves, “Give him a couple of years and he’ll be Peyton Manning,” … well, we haven’t seen our prophecy realized. He’s a good NFL quarterback, and 20 other teams would love to have him. He’s not, however, a Peyton or a Tom Brady or a Drew Brees.

The buzz in preseason was that this would be the year Ryan joins the pantheon. (Indeed, the famous Gil Brandt picked him to be the league’s MVP.) But the Ryan who couldn’t lead a team featuring a Pro Bowl back, a Pro Bowl wideout and a Pro Bowl tight end to a single touchdown on Sunday wasn’t the Matty Ice who made us tingle back in ‘08. This Matty Ice, sad to say, left us cold.

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/

[wordtobigbird]

It really is a scary thing to think our QB hasnt improved.. Im sure that he has because he did have some impressive pocket awareness. We need big play back, I dont think I remember him lofting one up for Roddy deep at all. Just out, after out, after out.

[Sun Tzu 7]

(09-16-2010 08:30 AM)wordtobigbird Wrote:  It really is a scary thing to think our QB hasnt improved.. Im sure that he has because he did have some impressive pocket awareness. We need big play back, I dont think I remember him lofting one up for Roddy deep at all. Just out, after out, after out.

Yeah.... I don't know what is going on but I am just hoping it was just because the Steelers will be that good defensively this year.

One thing I hope we stop seeing are those GAME KILLING interceptions late in games. We saw a few of these last season and had another the first game this season.

On the bright side after watching the Jets offense... at least he doesn't throw the checkdown every pass.

[Dyoshot]

I know Ryan makes mistakes, but I think this is about 90% a problem with Mularkey. Ryan doesn't have a cannon arm, but he isn't Joey Harrington either. I assume we knew about his arm strength, or lack of it when we drafted him. How come after two years they haven't built an offense that caters to his strengths? I'm not a fan of firing an OC during the season. However, I really think he should get the ax at the end of the year. Ryan should have been in a west coast offense.

[Tandy]

What we have is another good QB - who has the potential to be great

and

Another offensive line which can break him

[Sun Tzu 7]

(09-16-2010 10:03 AM)Tandy Wrote:  What we have is another good QB - who has the potential to be great

and

Another offensive line which can break him

I'm afraid you might be right.

To me it's looking like Ryan is more anxious in the pocket than he was his rookie year. I can't tell if he's trying to keep his feet moving before he sets... or if he's getting happy feet.

Oh we need a win this weekend and we need it bad.

[putnam6]

(09-16-2010 10:03 AM)Tandy Wrote:  What we have is another good QB - who has the potential to be great

and

Another offensive line which can break him

Well this is where the offensive coach gives him a quick option on every play (slant etc. like they had with Douglas in 2008) cause I'm not expecting huge improvements in OL play.

[Peyton]

Although nobody has been more skeptical with regards to the Falcons standing pat at WR and the lack of certain kinds of pass plays in the offense, I do think we still have to give the team a little bit of the benefit of the doubt and understand that playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on opening day is always going to be a hard mountain to climb.

I mean, my concerns aren't going to go away, but I do know this. We light the Cardinals up on Sunday, and people around here will magically feel a whole lot better about Matt Ryan.

[theProf]

(09-16-2010 10:03 AM)Tandy Wrote:  What we have is another good QB - who has the potential to be great

and

Another offensive line which can break him

Tandy I think you are absolutely correct. Initially, I was thinking that the problem with the offense was primarily Mullarkey's play-calling. However, after your extremely informative post on Passer/Receiver Analysis, I now believe the main culprit is the Offensive Line. Ryan just does not have adequate time to throw the ball. The majority of his passes (over 75% according to your stats) were thrown under 2 seconds in the Steelers game, and he was still under significant pressure even having to throw that quickly. There was definitely no time for Ryan to throw long, or to go through any normal progressions on pass plays. Also the OL didn't do much at all in regards to effective run blocking either. There were virtually no holes or running lanes the entire game. Atlanta's OL just got man-handled Sunday, plain and simple.

[FalconinPa]

(09-16-2010 10:03 AM)Tandy Wrote:  What we have is another good QB - who has the potential to be great

and

Another offensive line which can break him

I totally agree with this. I truly hope that it is Mularkey holding Ryan back, and not Ryan himself.