Patriots at Falcons score, takeaways: New England beats up Matt Ryan, blanks

The New England Patriots have now won five consecutive games after taking down the Falcons on Thursday in Atlanta 25-0. Mac Jones and the Patriots offense built up their lead pretty early in this matchup, scoring 13 points over their first three possession to begin the game. New England’s lone offensive touchdown of the night came courtesy of a 19-yard pass to Nelson Agholor from Jones. And as the Patriots’ offense built up a solid enough cushion, Bill Belichick’s defense thrashed the Falcons from the jump. 

Matt Ryan had little time to throw the football whenever he dropped back to pass and was sacked three times in the first half (four total sacks for the game). Even when Atlanta was in a position to put points on the board, poor execution plagued them. The biggest example of that came on the Falcons third drive of the day. They were able to bring the football as far as the New England 14-yard line, however, a 13-yard sack and a subsequent illegal formation penalty on a field goal attempt led to a missed 50-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo. The second half wasn’t much better for the Falcons as Ryan was picked off on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter that effectively eliminated any chance of a late rally (or backdoor cover). 

Jones finished his day completing 22 of 26 for 207 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The backfield totaled 138 yards rushing with Rhamondre Stevenson (69 yards) and Damien Harris (56) leading the way. Meanwhile, Ryan completed 19 of 28 for 153 yards and two interceptions. 

For more on how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below. 

Why the Patriots won

The Patriots’ defense continues to be the backbone of this winning streak and its improved play over the last month-plus has raised the ceiling for this team exponentially. They were able to apply pressure on Ryan early and often, and from every which way. New England pressured Ryan on the outside with Matthew Judon and Kyle Van Noy both coming up with sacks along with up the middle of the line with tackle Davon Godchaux. In all, Ryan was sacked four times on the night and was hit a total of 12 times. 

Those sacks also come up in timely spots. As we noted in the intro, one of the bigger blunders by Atlanta came on that botched red zone execution in the second quarter. On a third-and-1 from the Patriots 14, Kyle Van Noy was able to sack Ryan for a 13-yard loss, which ultimately sparked a meltdown that resulted in zero points. In the second half, that pressure then translated into turnovers as New England’s defense finished with four straight interceptions to end the game. Two were from Ryan while the final two picks came off of backups Josh Rosen and Feleipe Franks. 

Offensively, the Patriots continued to be efficient out of the gate. Jones spread the ball around early and completed 14 of his 15 first-half throws for 136 yards and a touchdown as New England built up a 13-0 lead. In all, Jones completed throws to nine different Patriots pass-catchers. Meanwhile, Damien Harris was the catalyst on the offense’s lone touchdown of the evening as he accounted for 43 of the team’s 76 yards on the scoring drive.  

Why the Falcons…