Week 14 at Carolina
Matt Ryan's rough 2015 campaign continued in Week 13, as he completed 30-of-45 passes for 269 yards with a touchdown and an interception in a loss to the Bucs. Over the past month, many have theorized what is wrong with Ryan. It's Kyle Shanahan's play-calling. It's Atlanta's offensive line. It's the receivers not getting open. Ryan is dealing with an injury. Chances are, it's all of the above (outside of the injury - Ryan doesn't appear to be hurt). Defenses have figured out that if they take away the middle of the field and blanket Julio Jones, Ryan isn't as effective as he's been in the past. The offensive line is also suited to run Shanahan's outside zone-blocking scheme but it's having issues holding up in pass protection. All of this has played a part in Ryan's struggles in 2015. From a fantasy perspective, he's fallen off the QB1 radar, especially this Sunday when the Falcons travel to Carolina to take on the undefeated Panthers. Josh Norman has had major success taking Jones away, which will only lead to more struggles for Ryan. Avoid the Atlanta QB.
Week 13 at Tampa Bay
Matt Ryan completed 22-of-31 passes for 230 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in the Falcons' Week 12 loss to the Vikings. Both of his interceptions killed potential scoring drives and his lone touchdown game in garbage time when the contest was already in hand. Some have speculated that he's dealing with an undisclosed injury, although Ryan has been steadfast that he's not hurt. Others have suggested that he and OC Kyle Shanahan aren't on the same page when it comes to how to effectively run Atlanta's offense. Whatever the problem is, Ryan is putting together his worst season as a pro. Turnovers, especially in the red zone, are a massive problem and it looks like he's pressing at times. Despite having a nice matchup on Sunday versus Tampa Bay, we have him ranked as our QB15 for Week 14. If Ryan Fitzpatrick, Alex Smith or Jay Cutler are available, they're better options than Ryan for Sunday.
Week 12 vs. Minnesota
Matt Ryan completed 25-of-46 passes for 280 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in the Falcons Week 11 loss to the Colts. Ryan threw a horrible interception that was returned for a short pick-six in the second half to allow the Colts to tie the score at 21-21. With Devonta Freeman out, the Falcons running game struggled and Ryan progressively got worse as the game wore on. Ranked as our QB12 for Week 13, Ryan will be a low-end QB1 against the No. 18 fantasy defense against quarterbacks (Minnesota). If Brian Hoyer is available on your waiver wire, he has a better matchup versus the Saints on Sunday than Ryan has against the Vikings.
Week 11 vs. Indianapolis
Matt Ryan completed 30-of-45 passes for 303 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons Week 9 loss to the 49ers. After a hot start to the season, Atlanta's offense has cooled off considerably and it'll be interesting to see what, if any, adjustments OC Kyle Shanahan made over the bye. Ryan is currently QB15 on the season, but there's still hope that he can turn things around. Talk of picking up the pace during the bye week is an encouraging sign for Ryan owners, as he's had success in the hurry up in prior seasons. Ranked as our QB8 for Week 11, Ryan will be a low-end QB1 against the Colts this Sunday.
Week 9 at San Francisco
Matt Ryan completed 37-of-45 passes for 397 yards with two touchdowns, two fumbles and one interception in the Falcon' Week 8 loss to the Bucs. Atlanta moved the ball at will against Tampa Bay, but kept shooting itself in the foot as soon as it sniffed the red zone. The game played out in a similar manner as when the Falcons lost to the Saints in New Orleans a few weeks back. Despite all the miscues, Atlanta enters Sunday's game against the 49ers ranked fourth in the NFL with an average of 414.8 yards per game, is tied for sixth in the league in scoring at 26.6 points per game, and is tied for sixth in red zone offense with a 63.3 percent conversation rate. But the Falcons have averaged just 19.0 points per game in their last four games because of 12 turnovers and a 7-of-15 mark in the red zone (47 percent). If Ryan and Co. can clean up their act from a turnover standpoint, the Falcons will go back to posting real-life fantasy numbers on a weekly basis. Ranked as our QB9 for Week 9, Ryan remains a low-end QB1 option for this weekend. At some point the Falcons are going to iron out their issues and perhaps it's this week against a shaky San Francisco defense.
Week 8 vs. Tampa Bay
Despite facing a banged up Titans defense in Week 7, Matt Ryan completed 22-of-38 passes for 251 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His numbers would have looked better had officials determined that Julio Jones broke the plane of the goal line following a reception in the fourth quarter, but Ryan and the Atlanta offense still look out of sync. There was some chatter in Atlanta this week that Ryan might be hurt, but he says that he's fine. He's turned the ball over eight times through seven games and constantly looks indecisive and hurried in the pocket. Perhaps the years of taking a beating behind Atlanta's suspect offensive line has finally caught up to Ryan, who will be a low-end QB1 when the Falcons host the Bucs on Sunday. He's still worth starting depending on your options at quarterback, but lower your expectations while the Falcons passing game is in a rut.
Week 7 at Tennessee
Matt Ryan completed 30-of-44 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons Week 6 loss to the Titans. He also fumbled three times, losing one as Atlanta played a sloppy game as a whole. Ryan wanted to throw deep off play-action several times throughout the night, but often held onto the ball too long and took a punishing. Part of that may have been because Julio Jones had issues creating separation in coverage due to a lingering hamstring issue. The 10 days between the Saints game and Sunday's matchup with the Titans should help the entire Falcons offense. If Jones gets back to tormenting defenses, Ryan's 17.1 fantasy points per game average will climb. For now, he's our QB8 for Week 7 and should be in your lineup.
Week 6 at New Orleans
Matt Ryan completed 24-of-42 passes for 254 yards with two interceptions in the Falcons Week 5 win over the Redskins. He also had a touchdown taken away from him when an apparent completion to Devonta Freeman was ruled incomplete after Freeman had reached the ball over the end zone, but failed to maintain possession throughout the entirety of the catch. After turning the ball over three times last Sunday (he also lost a fumble inside Washington territory), Ryan should rebound against the 32nd-ranked fantasy defense against quarterbacks. That said, if Julio Jones (hamstring) doesn't play, it will certainly affect Ryan's stat line. He's still a good start based on the matchup and currently ranks as our QB4 for Week 6.
Week 5 vs. Washington
Matt Ryan completed 19-of-27 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons Week 4 win over the Texans. Considering Atlanta racked up 48 points, it was somewhat of a disappointing line, but Ryan nevertheless continues to impress. Through four weeks, he's on pace to rack up 24 touchdowns and currently ranks as fantasy's seventh-best quarterback. Washington's defense has played better than expected this season, but it still ranks 25th against fantasy quarterbacks this season. Ryan ranks as our No. 3 quarterback for Week 5 and should be in your lineup.
Week 4 vs. Houston
Matt Ryan completed 24-of-36 attempts for 285 yards with two touchdowns in the Falcons come-from-behind win over the Cowboys in Week 3. For the season, he's averaging 19.7 fantasy points per game and continues to look comfortable running Kyle Shanahan's offense. Unlike the previous two seasons, the Falcons pass protection is also giving Ryan time to find open receivers and Atlanta has found some semblance of a running game as well. Ryan plays against fantasy's No. 28-ranked defense this week when the Texans come to town. He's our QB5 for Week 4 and should be in your lineup.
