The Falcons started the season 6-1, but things took a turn for the worse at that point as they lost six straight games to fall out of serious playoff contention.
Turnovers were a big issue during the losing streak with the Falcons giving the ball away 16 times in those seven games, leading to questions about quarterback Matt Ryan’s play and the offense’s overall comfort in their first season with coordinator Kyle Shanahan calling the plays.
During a Wednesday appearance on PFT Live, Ryan didn’t disagree with the latter opinion. He said that it took until the end of the season for the team to take ownership of the offense.
“I think anytime you transition in terms of your offense, there’s going to be a learning curve for everybody — myself included,” Ryan said. “I think we had more opportunities than people think. The difference between wins and losses oftentimes is four or five plays. I thought we picked up the offense pretty well, but we never really owned it. That’s a thing I think we did better later in the year. I think guys got more comfortable and we owned it. In the game-ending situations where we had to make four or five plays, we made them.”
Ryan also discussed Roddy White’s complaints about his usage in the offense, saying that he wants receivers that want the ball and that he didn’t think White’s comments were part of the reason for the offensive struggles. To watch all of Ryan’s appearance on the show, check out the video below.