The Atlanta Falcons have gone from contenders to pretenders this season after a loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 11. The team that started out 5-0 is nowhere near what they used to be as they have slowly regressed each week. Much of the blame is being handed to the offense and quarterback Matt Ryan who was booed coming off the field. With a game against the Minnesota Vikings on the horizon, Roddy White is defending his quarterback while injuries are once again an issue.
Ryan has been an issue this season with costly turnovers. The quarterback went 25-of-46 in passing for 280 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Two of those turnovers came in the fourth quarter when the Colts were making their comeback run. That is certainly not the performance the fans are used to seeing from the quarterback who is quickly becoming an issue for the Falcons. Of course the Falcons have no plans on moving on from Ryan in some capacity, the quarterback is coming under fire for his struggles this season leaving teammates to defend him.
"What do I say to him? Nothing because I know what type of player he is," Roddy White said, via ESPN.com. "He competes and works as hard as anybody in this league. We're all in a funk. It's not just Matt. We've got to help Matt out. We've got to catch some balls that we're able to catch. We've got to help him out, especially when he's not playing Matt Ryan football. We've got to go out there and make up for the things that he's not doing well right now. We all have to play better as a collective group and give a better collective effort."
The Falcons need to figure out whatever this funk is the team is in because the playoff wild-card lead is down to one game and quickly slipping away as the Vikings will not be an easy task. Things could be even harder as Devonta Freeman heals from a concussion. According to ESPN's Vaughn McClure, Freeman is no guarantee to play in Week 12 as he goes through the league's protocol. That would leave rookie Tevin Coleman to get the start. Coleman had 48 yards on 17 carries in place of the injured Freeman while fullback Patrick DiMarco stole the show with two touchdowns.
There appears to be no quick fix for the Falcons offense. The team could not even get something going coming out of the bye week. The turnovers were the biggest issue along while Ryan was the biggest offender of them all. With a another strong defense set to face Atlanta, the team either gets out of the funk White referenced or risk ending the year with another top-10 draft pick.
