The Atlanta Falcons really had some issues with their offensive line again. That major problem was the culprit for a 27-13 loss at home to the Chicago Bears in Week 6.
Falcons fantasy football recap: Matt Ryan and Julio Jones disappoint
The Falcons struggled on offense at home. We break down the fantasy implications.
Kevin C. Cox
He was sacked four times and under pressure the entire game, completing 19 of his 37 passes for 271 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Basically, he let down a lot of fantasy owners today.
Before today, Ryan had a whopping 142.2 passer rating in his home games with six touchdowns in the two previous outings. He has just a 72.8 passer rating on the road, so maybe he just didn’t know where he was.
The Falcons are back on the road to face the Baltimore Ravens. They'll see a ton of blitzes, so Ryan is more of a high-end QB2 based on his sub-par road performances so far this season.
It feels like the Falcons are just one game away from freeing Antone Smith. He caught a 41-yard touchdown pass as part of his four-catch, 64-yard receiving game. Smith added just 5 yards in the rushing game, though.
He’s a game-breaker and has five touchdowns on the season. All of them have been on plays of at least 38 yards and he has been a major force once he gets to the sideline.
The Falcons aren’t going to get many chances to run the ball consistently because their offensive line is awful. It makes sense to just give Smith the ball and hope he breaks one. Plus, their poor defense is going to force them to get big plays in the passing game.
He should be owned in 12-team leagues.
He played okay with 25 rushing yards on six carries. Jackson couldn’t add any catches on his two targets and has looked slower as the year has progressed.
He had at least 12 touches in the previous five games, so this was a bit of a surprise to see him lose so many chances. That said, there is just no upside here and owners in 12-team leagues should be able to do better with someone like Jerick McKinnon, Isaiah Crowell or even teammate Antone Smith.
He finally had a sub-par game in what should have been an explosion. Jones did get a team-high 12 targets, but was only able to pull in four of them for 68 yards.
Julio was leading the NFL in receptions and receiving yards before today, but he had season lows in both areas today.
There is absolutely nothing to worry about and no analysis is really needed. He’s still the No. 1 receiver to own if we did a draft today.
It was not a great game from White again, catching just three of his six targets for 40 yards. He couldn’t really get open and the Bears were physical with him.
He hasn’t been able to get it going since his leg injury earlier this season. In the past two weeks, White has a combined five catches for 66 yards. He’s also caught just 50 percent of his targets on the season and has just one catch of 25 yards or more.
It’s not clear if he’s not healthy or is just slowing down in his age-32 season. White could still turn it around in a moment’s notice and is worth a look as a buy-low target. He does have a good schedule the rest of the way.
He was awful today. The tight end had a couple egregious drops and Ryan would be crazy to count on him after today. Toilolo finished with three receptions for 34 yards. He’s a low-end TE2.
