With the losses piling up, the Atlanta Falcons must place blame somewhere as the five-game losing streak continues. That blame has fallen on Kyle Shanahan as several players have questioned the play calling of the offensive coordinator. With red zone issues plaguing the team along with turnovers, Shanahan is carrying a lot of the brunt, but quarterback Matt Ryan is making it clear that the coach is not to blame in this situation.
Julio Jones, Roddy White and Matt Ryan have spoken out about frustrations with the offense. According to ESPN's Vaughn McClure, Ryan is not happy with Shanahan's system and is feeling overwhelmed with the new plan in place. As job security comes into question, Ryan told the media on Tuesday that he fully supports Shanahan and expects the two to win plenty of games together in the future.
"I believe we're going to win a lot of games together," Ryan said, via 680 The Fan. "Kyle and I have done a great job or working together all year. I feel really good about where we are at. Our production hasn't been there, but in terms of plays and all that kind of stuff, I feel really good about how Kyle and I have worked together this year."
It is hard to agree with the "great job" Ryan says he and Shanahan have done considering the team is struggling to find the endzone as both Jones and Devonta Freeman have been held scoreless. Interceptions are becoming expected from Ryan while fumbles are getting to be a bad habit from players like Tevin Coleman. That has caused a lot of criticism, but according to McClure, fans should not expect Shanahan to go anywhere this offseason regardless of what the Falcons do with the remainder of the season.
Head coach Dan Quinn has heard the criticism of the play calling. Jones is wondering why he is not a red zone target while White told the media the team needs to take more deep shots. Quinn made it clear that he supports his coordinator and hopes things get fixed quickly.
"I'll have to check with (Julio) on that one," Quinn said, via ESPN.com. "There certainly [were] some that we did take some shots to him (Sunday) in the red zone. One, I think was going to go his way. We got sacked on another one. So, we'll go back and look at that. It's one I haven't discussed with him specifically. But, we'll go back and see if there's different things that came up in the game."
If Ryan and Jones are as unhappy as reports are saying, owner Arthur Blank might opt to cut ties with Shanahan quickly. It certainly cannot be ruled out as an option regardless of how long the coach has been with the team. Both Jones and Ryan are franchise players with good track records. If that is the change that needs to be made, Blank might not hesitate.
