The bad news: Atlanta put together its third straight underwhelming performance since dominating the Texans and moving to 4-0. The good news: Atlanta is 2-1 in those three games.
The Falcons-Titans week 7 matchup was far from an offensive masterpiece. Neither offense had success moving the ball, and any time one team would finally get something going they would find a way to mess it up. However, Sunday’s 10-7 victory once again showcased this team’s grit. They have been able to pull out the close games all year, and their defense has held strong whenever it has needed to. The offensive struggles are puzzling, especially considering how fluid it ran the first four weeks of the season, but I expect Matt Ryan and company to figure it out sooner rather than later.
The Good
Jonathan Babineaux (+4.0)
Ryan Schraeder (+3.1)
Chris Chester (+3.0)
Devonta Freeman (+2.8)
Adrian Clayborne (+2.2)
Babineaux was the highest rated player in Sunday’s affair as he racked up 2 quarterback hits and 3 hurries in just 35 snaps. Babineaux is no spring chicken, but he has been a very solid rotational defensive lineman all season and knows how to get after the quarterback from the interior lineman positions.
Both Ryan Schraeder and Chris Chester have been terrific on the offensive line all season. Chester has quietly been one of the best acquisitions this offseason and Schraeder is becoming one of the most reliable offensive tackles in football. The Falcons line has been dominant this year in large part to these two guys.
Devonta Freeman continued his amazing run, rushing for over 100 yard in his 3rd straight game. He failed to find the endzone for the first time since week 1, but I think he will be able to keep his job for now.
The Bad
Justin Durant (-2.0)
Robert Alford (-1.9)
Andy Levitre (-1.7)
For how sloppy of a game this was, there surprisingly was not many poorly rated players. Justin Durant played for the first time since week 4 and struggled. He has not exactly been the player the Falcons were hoping for so far, but hopefully he can turn it around in the second half of the season. Atlanta needs all the help it can get at the linebacker position.
Alford struggled as well in this game, but he has put together a nice season so far. Levitre was brutal in the pass blocking department, but managed to make up for it a little bit with his solid run blocking. Like Chester, Levitre has been panned out as a terrific offseason move, so this is not reflective of how effective he has been this entire season.