The Falcons lost to the Panthers on Sunday, dropping them to 4-4 on the season and running their recent run of bad results to four losses in five games.
After grabbing an early 10-0 lead, the Falcons gave up 20 straight points to Carolina and then saw their effort to come back for a win fizzle after cutting the score to 20-17 in the fourth quarter. As in the other games during this recent stretch, the Falcons loss saw their offense fail to put up points the way it did in 2016 and there will be more doubt about their ability to find that kind of success the longer they continue to go without it.
Quarterback Matt Ryan matched his 2016 total with his seventh interception on Sunday, but said on Monday morning that he isn’t losing his faith in the offense’s ability.
“I remain very confident,” Ryan said on 680 The Fan, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “I really feel like we’ve got a good group of guys, guys that are working hard and doing the right things during the week. And guys that are going to make plays for us in this next, eight-game stretch. I really believe that. And I hope that comes to fruition for us.”
Ryan noted that “they don’t give the trophy out at this time of the year,” but getting to the point when they do won’t be a walk in the park. The final eight games of the year are all against NFC opponents and their two games against the Buccaneers are the only ones against opponents who are under .500 at this point.
Running that gauntlet well enough to return to the playoffs is going to take a jump from an offense that can’t be middling if the team is going to bes==