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Julio Jones-Matt Ryan Connection Makes Atlanta Falcons Offense Unstoppable
- Updated: October 3, 2016
When an athlete is a truly special talent, he or she makes everyone around them better.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones falls into this category as the NFL’s most physically gifted target. Because Jones has the ability to dominate on a weekly basis, he makes quarterback Matt Ryan better. As a result, the Falcons offense is operating at a level previously unseen in the franchise’s history.
Entering Sunday’s contest against the rival Carolina Panthers, the Falcons already developed into the league’s best offense and led the NFL in yards per game, yards per play and yards per pass play.
Those numbers improved after Sunday’s 48-33 victory. Ryan threw for a career-high 503 yards, while Jones became the sixth wide receiver in NFL history to register a 300-yard game, according to ESPN:
Have. A. Game.Julio Jones becomes only the sixth player ever to tally 300 receiving yards in a game. pic.twitter.com/0JsMcm0e9X
— ESPN (@espn) October 2, 2016
No other quarterback-wide receiver duo has ever accomplished both in the same game, per ESPN Stats & Info:
There had never been a 500-yd passer & 300-yd receiver in same game in NFL history, via @EliasSportsUntil now: Matt Ryan & Julio Jones pic.twitter.com/VpnjhgOAc6
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 2, 2016
“The connection with Matt and Julio today was as strong as ever,” Falcons head coach Dan Quinn said, per ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure.
Just how good was the Falcons’ offensive performance?
“Three of the Falcons’ five touchdown drives Sunday had distances of 92, 98 and 99 yards,” ESPN Stats & Info added. “Coming into the day, there had been one touchdown drive of 98 or more yards this season. It was only the second time in the last 15 seasons that a team had three 90-yard touchdown drives in a game.”
As a team, Atlanta managed 571 total yards while setting a new NFL record for points scored and allowed through the first quarter of a season, according to Football Outsiders’ Scott Kacsmar:
Most combined points, first 4 games in NFL history1. 2016 Falcons – 2762. 2002 Chiefs – 2753. 2000 Rams – 2744. 2013 Broncos – 270
— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) October 2, 2016
What makes the latest effort even more impressive is it came against one of the NFL’s best defenses. Sunday’s explosion didn’t take advantage of another poor defense found on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints. Carolina ranked third overall in total defense prior to the meeting.
But offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan found ways to exploit a …
