The Atlanta Falcons have been struggling offensively. After a successful first few weeks in the season, the unit has stalled out as 10 points was all they could muster against the Tennessee Titans. Penalties, injuries and inconsistencies have plagued the group over the past few weeks and head coach Dan Quinn understands that getting it fixed is a priority before they face top opponents like the Carolina Panthers.
Injuries are an issue for Atlanta right now. Matt Ryan is trying to stress that he is not dealing with any of them right now and that his struggles are simply based on not playing well. Ryan has four interceptions and two lost fumbles in the past four games which is not his normal style of play. Ryan told 680 The Fan in Atlanta that he is healthy, just not very good right now.
"I am healthy," Ryan said, via ESPN.com. "Feeling good. Body feels really good. You know, just haven't played as well as I would like the last couple weeks. I think offensively, we would all say the same. But we've been finding ways to get it done, and that's huge. We'll take the wins any way we can get them."
According to Roddy White, the offense is simply in a funk right now. The Falcons might be 6-1, but they certainly have not been impressive over the last few games and with a matchup against the Panthers on the horizon, the offense needs to get moving once again. Quinn denied that the offense would stop relying on Ryan and his arm while White told the media that the unit is focused on continuing to grind and improve.
"People might not care about this game in a couple of weeks, but we care because we know we can be better," White said, via ESPN.com. "I felt like we had maybe two drives that were good out of [10]. We had two the whole game. And the rest were penalties or little setbacks that got us down and distances that we couldn't recover from. We just have to find a way to get out of this funk before we get to a team like Carolina that is really good, that when you get behind the sticks, you're going to get blown out."
According to ESPN's Vaughn McClure, the Falcons are not expecting to have Leonard Hankerson available for Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That means Nick Williams will be relied upon while rookie Justin Hardy could be active for the first time this season. Hankerson has been a favored target for Ryan, but a hamstring injury has prevented him from making plays. Tevin Coleman could also see more playing time in the run game while Jacob Tamme's improvement will be welcomed against the Buccaneers.
