Duke Riley Struggled, Oliver Not Ready, Ridley Played Scared, Matt Ryan Not Sharp

The Atlanta Falcons completed their third preseason game last night. The third game is usually known as the dress rehearsal, as practice squad players battle it out in Week Four. The Falcons looked terrible last night. Dropped passes, bad throws, poor tackling, the Falcons first team looked bad. The offensive line couldn’t hold blocks, Matt Ryan had pressure in his face the whole first half.

Duke Riley

Duke Riley stunk it up yet again last night. He just looked lost out there. No way can the Falcons coaches feel confident in his play going into the season. Duke Riley can’t cover running backs out the backfield, and he may be the worst tackler in the history of history. Teams with good receiving running backs will expose Riley.

.@_fournette is filthy 🔥 (via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/XFy1ivKXr1

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 25, 2018

Here is a prime example, Riley didn’t even let the play develop and he over pursues. Leonard Fournette should not have scored on this play. Riley is out of position and gets washed out of the play. Riley is trash and the Falcons need to cut him immediately. That’s not an opinion just put the tape on.

Isaiah Oliver

Oliver is not ready to start nor is he ready to see huge playing time this season. The rookie is getting cooked by backups. I can only imagine what Antonio Brown will do when he’s matched up on the rookie in week five. The Atlanta Falcons have a loaded secondary so the only way Oliver should see the field is if someone goes down. Barring injury, Oliver shouldn’t see the field too much in his rookie campaign. The rookie is simply not ready. The Atlanta Falcons can’t afford to be burned by rookie mistakes this season. Oliver has all the physical gifts to be great, and no doubt in my mind he will.

Calvin Ridley

Calvin Ridley looked like a deer in headlight’s last night. Dropping passes that were thrown perfectly. Coming into the season I hoped he had put the drops behind him. Ridley had 20 drops while at the University of Alabama.  Ridley had one reception for 12 yards, and two drops last night. He played like a rookie last night. Julio Jones not being out there has an impact on him as well, but Ridley’s route running showed last night. What good is a good route if you can’t catch the ball. Ridley had his worst game as a pro but luckily for him its the preseason.

Matt Ryan

Ryan came out hot and the offense marched down the field on their opening possession, but like usual the offense sputtered out in the red zone. Matt didn’t look as sharp as I hoped last night. I know there are throws he wished he had back, but he did complete this nice back shoulder catch to Sanu.

Jalen Ramsey: I think Matt Ryan's overrated.
Matt Ryan: #ATLvsJAX | #RiseUp

(via @AtlantaFalcons)pic.twitter.com/LP8kOn1RGI

— Yahoo Sports NFL (@YahooSportsNFL) August 26, 2018

Jalen Ramsey was the guy in coverage, but all in all Matt Ryan didn’t look great like I’m sure he would like to have been. Ryan won’t see the field in the final preseason game so he will have to build off this not so good performance against the defending champs. Won’t be easy but Ryan will be ready.

Bottom Line

Two years ago…

The
Falcons
went to Florida and played poorly in a 17-6 loss in the 3rd pre-season game.

And then….

Last Night. 17-6 poorly played loss in 3rd pre-season game in Florida.