EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Jake Matthews had an excuse, but he refused to use it.

The Atlanta Falcons' rookie left tackle figured it would be tough enough contending with New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul at full strength. It only made matters worse when Matthews tweaked the same left ankle he sprained in the season opener against New Orleans.

"I just didn’t put myself in good position," Matthews said following Sunday’s 30-20 loss to the New York Giants. "A couple of times, I was trying to short-set. It didn’t help either that my ankle got rolled up again, but it’s fine. I just need to finish better."

Matthews was far from the only one who struggled in the end. The line, as a whole, started off well but didn’t get the job done in the second half as the offense managed just 104 second-half yards, if you take away Antone Smith’s 74-yard, catch-and-run touchdown. The Falcons converted just 1-of-8 on third down in the second half because quarterback Matt Ryan didn’t have adequate time to throw.

And Ryan, of course, was sacked on that crucial fourth-and-1 play late the game after left guard Harland Gunn, starting in place of the injured Justin Blalock, had a technique breakdown.

That was the only time Ryan was sacked, but he was hit eight times playing behind three new starters in center Peter Konz, right tackle Gabe Carimi, and Gunn.

"You had three new guys in there and I thought that, especially there in the first half, they did a very good job," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "I think that there was more pressure in the second half, and that led to some of our inefficiency (on) third down. But those guys did a great job. The coaching staff and the players did a great job in preparing themselves for the situation that we had today."

Ryan, who completed 12 of 22 passes for 150 yards in the second half -- with 74 off those yards on the Smith play -- was asked if he had adequate time to throw and see the field.

"Yeah, I mean, at times," Ryan said. "At times, I thought we did a really nice job. At other times, I thought we needed to be better up front and outside, and myself included. So think there were some positives; some things we did well, and certainly some things we didn’t do well."

Konz held up better than expected as he got help on plenty of plays. Gunn is inexperienced, so a few missteps were expected. And Matthews took his struggles personally.

"We had trouble finishing in this game," Matthews said. "I know personally, I didn’t finish well in the fourth quarter. I had a couple bad plays. I need to do better than that."

"If we get the ball in the red zone, we definitely need to get in the end zone," Matthew said. "We just need to finish better."