Atlanta Falcons: Roddy White shows importance of No. 2 WR

The Atlanta Falcons exacted revenge on the Carolina Panthers yesterday, ending Cam Newton‘s undefeated season in a 20-13 victory that saw Matt Ryan post his best game of the season against one of the NFL’s top five defenses.

Next week, the Atlanta Falcons will close out the season against another division rival who defeated them earlier this year, and if Ryan has another strong performance, he could put up some serious numbers against an awful New Orleans Saints pass defense that allowed 368 passing yards to Blake Bortles in their win over the Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday.

Why do I mention the Saints? Well, the Falcons primetime loss to New Orleans in Week 6 marked the beginning of their slide out of playoff contention. Not only was it their first loss of the season, but they never recovered after that game. Yes, they beat the Tennessee Titans the following week, but it was hardly a convincing display. I mean, a 10-7 win against arguably the worst team in the league isn’t impressive, and it looks even worse when you consider the fact that they lost six straight games after that.

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Dan Quinn and the Falcons have seemingly righted the ship since then, picking up wins over the Jaguars and Panthers in back-to-back weeks. Yesterday’s win over Carolina, of course, was more than just convincing, and it was a joy to watch Ryan and veteran wide receiver Roddy White help support their best player, Julio Jones, with strong days of their own.

Jones was obviously the star of the win, racking up nine catches for 178 yards and a TD on 11 targets to boost his season average to an insane 114.8 receiving yards per game, but, well, Jones has had plenty of memorable performances in the Falcons losses. The Falcons have seen Devonta Freeman emerge as a star running back, but the elite play from both Freeman and Jones alone weren’t enough to help Atlanta pick up wins.

So let’s turn to White. The veteran wideout is clearly a declining player, and he hasn’t looked anything like a star over the past two seasons. This year, the Falcons legend has been especially unreliable, posting just 42 receptions on the season, as he’s been a relative non-factor for this offense throughout the year.

However, White rose the occasion against one of the best teams in the NFL, as he caught five of the six passes thrown at him for 67 yards. In fact, those 67 yards are the most White has earned since the team’s Week 1 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, and it’s only the third time this season that he’s gone for 50 yards in a single game.

Though the lone blemish on White’s stat sheet is a drop, it’s important to keep his big game in context. At 34, the former UAB standout is still the same, slow-footed veteran he’s been throughout the season, and a big reason why he was able to get open so often yesterday was because he was facing an equally slow-footed cornerback in Charles Tillman.

But White’s play or declining skill-set aren’t important here; what’s important is the fact that the Falcons offense was firing on all cylinders with Jones starring, Freeman playing the role of the workhorse (it didn’t really matter that his 22 carries went for just 3.3 yards per pop), and White providing the Falcons with efficient play from a second pass-catcher.

At 21st in the league in net yards per pass attempt allowed, the Falcons defense could still use some work, but they’ve honestly been about a middle-of-the-pack unit under their first-year defensive wizard. The offense, however, is 21st in points scored per game, whereas the defense is 14th in points allowed per game; it’s the offense that needs some work.

It’s easy to blame Ryan, but the fact of the matter is that it’s difficult for a quarterback to lead his team to victory with just one wide receiver who can consistently win. For as great as Jones has been, the Falcons haven’t had a consistent No. 2 receiver this season, and it’s hard to ask Jones to do everything for this team.

Dec 20, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White (84) carries the ball as Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Aaron Colvin (22) tackles during the first quarter at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Leonard Hankerson wasn’t exactly a standout player for the Falcons, and he was plagued by drops and other consistency issues.

However, Hankerson did at least give defenses something to think about with his speed, and he didn’t fall off the radar until Week 6 when he caught four passes for 37 yards in the loss to the Saints that started it all.

Since Week 6 (and for the whole season), White is fourth on the team in receptions and second in receiving yards, averaging less than 40 yards per game. Those aren’t strong numbers by any means, and those aren’t No. 2-type receiver numbers.

So you can see why the Falcons have been lacking for weapons despite regular triple-digit receiving days from Jones. If the Falcons want to make the playoffs next season, they need a more explosive offense, and that involves diversifying Ryan’s portfolio of weapons.

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See, for as inconsistent as Hankerson is, the offense was better off with him, since he was capable of giving defenses headaches with his raw tools, as evidenced by his 100-yard game against the Houston Texans and his 77-yard game against the New York Giants.

White, on the other hand, hasn’t gone past 84 yards since Week 1, and I doubt anyone would praise him for his speed or quickness at this stage of his illustrious career.

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