Atlanta Falcons: Studs and duds vs. Texans in Week 5

Stud: Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan had a nice showing behind center for Atlanta in a high scoring game, throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns once again this season. The veteran quarterback and former NFL MVP finished the game throwing 46 times, converting on 32 of those pass attempts while gathering a quarterback rating of 66.4. Ryan finished with 330 yards passing through the air, throwing three touchdowns and one interception in the defeat.

In a high-scoring contest like we saw on Sunday, it ultimately resulted in Atlanta being forced to throw the ball more and that in return inflated Ryan’s numbers at the end of the game. But throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdown while only turning the ball over once should be enough for the Falcons to come away with a victory.

That obviously wasn’t the case against Houston on Sunday, though.

Dud: Falcons pass defense

The second dud for Atlanta on Sunday afternoon in Houston was the Falcons’ pass defense and the inability to stop the Texans from basically doing whatever they wanted to throughout the course of the game.

For the most part in the first half, Atlanta was able to hold Houston in check while grabbing a 17-16 lead going into halftime on the road. But in the second half, the Texans did a little bit of everything to blow the game wide open, especially in the passing game.

The Falcons defense allowed Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson to throw for a total of 426 yards and five touchdown, while failing to force him into a turnover in the contest. The Texans receiving group, which was led by Will Fuller’s 217 yards receiving and three touchdowns, had five different players catch for over 20 yards in the game.