Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had a conference call with Seahawks beat reporters Wednesday, as he and his team prepare to travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on Seattle Sunday.
Ryan talked about the atmosphere at CenturyLink Field, and how it truly is a home-field advantage for the Seahawks.
“It’s a tough place to play, it really is,” Ryan said.
“It’s loud, a great environment, the fans are passionate out there. I think that organization takes pride in playing well at home, so it’s a challenging place to go play. It’ll be a good test for us this week.”
Ryan mentioned two of his wide receivers, rookie Julio Jones and Roddy White, and how things have been thus far with them.
“I think it’s been good,” Ryan said. “Julio has done a great job for us the first couple of weeks. He’s got a lot on his plate – every rookie does and he’s handled it really well. I think he’s another threat on the outside in addition to Roddy [White]. I think both those guys have the ability to kind of take over games. For me personally I’m happy to have both of them.”
The Falcons offense is currently ranked 17th in the league. Ryan admits that the offense hasn’t clicked like he wants it to just yet.
“I think we have high expectations of ourselves and I don’t think anybody would say that we’ve kind of played up to the standards that we set for ourselves,” Ryan said. “But it’s a long season and you have to stay mentally tough and stay patient and keep doing things the right way and trust that we’re going to make plays and we’re going to become more consistent.”
Ryan said he likes running the no-huddle offense. They’ve done it a lot this year and according to Ryan “it’s been a good change of pace for us in certain situations, so I feel very comfortable doing it.”
He said that the no-huddle won’t catch any defenses off guard who are already prepared and go into the game knowing they will run that type of offense. Ryan said despite that, they’ve executed the offense pretty well.
Ryan gave the keys to a win on Sunday in Seattle, and where his focus lies.
“We have to prepare well, we have to focus in and do everything we can Monday through Saturday to give ourselves a chance to go out and play well and get a win on Sunday. At least for me, I think that’s exactly where my focus is at right now,” Ryan said.
Lastly, Ryan talked about playing against 4-3 defenses in all three games leading up to the Seahawks game, and if that helps him and his teammates prepare for another 4-3 defense in Seattle’s.
“Yeah, when you see 4-3 week after week after week I think you kind of get into that mode, so the transition is a little easier, certainly for the offensive line and for pass protection. Some of the schemes are very similar,” Ryan said.
“It’s a good defense. I think it’s a defense that plays really well at home also.”
