Next Matt Ryan: 5/10 Matt Ryan is a good quarterback, but every once in a while he just has those off days where he struggles. He missed Julio Jones on two big plays on the opening drive and also threw two touchdowns. He was just not sharp or effective, and also had a critical fumble late in the first half in the red zone. I will give him some credit. On the last drive of the game, when he really needed to step up, he did. He went 6/8 passing for 66 yards on the final drive, including an eight-yard scramble and a fourth down conversion to Roddy White. He was bad overall, but salvaged an average rating with a very clutch late performance.

Previous Next Kirk Cousins: 6/10 Did he do anything amazing? No. Was he solid and kept the Redskins in the game? Yes. The former Michigan State quarterback went 21/31 passing for 219 yards. He drove the Redskins into field goal range on the final drive and gave his team a chance to win. Missed a few throws, but was overall it was good. Neither interception was his fault either.

Previous Next Devonta Freeman: 10/10 He was the best player on the field today for either team. Despite the Falcons not giving him a lot of chances until the fourth quarter, he still had a great game. He rushed for 153 yards on 27 carries, averaging 5/6 yards a carry. He was also a threat in the receiving game, with 44 yards in that department. He rushed for the touchdown to put the Falcons ahead in the final thirty seconds as well. When Matt Ryan was struggling, he leaned on Freeman to get him yards today.

Previous Next Redskins running backs: 5/10 Since one running back did not really stand out today, I will just talk about them as a unit. The stats may not look great with just 51 rushing yards, but they made more of an impact than people realize. Matt Jones ran for a touchdown, and even those short rushes they picked up, set them up into a lot of third and medium situations as opposed to third and long. They were stuffed a fair bit of times, but they did have a few bright spots.

Previous Next Falcons Wide Receivers: 6/10 It’s hard to judge this group of players because they really did not have the service they needed from Matt Ryan for much of the game, but I will put them just above average. They did drop some passes and not run some routes well, but they caught the passes they needed to on that final drive. Jacob Tamme caught two long passes in the first half, and despite a quiet game overall, Julio Jones was huge towards the end of the game. Good, but not great.

Previous Next Redskins Wide Receivers: 6/10 I was impressed by these guys today, but some mistakes drag their rating down. Overall it was good. They ran their routes well, and managed to get open through the Falcons secondary. They gave Kirk Cousins some good targets today. However, there was two critical mistakes. In the second quarter, Pierre Garcon literally slipped and dropped the ball into the hands of Robert Alford. In overtime, Ryan Grant slipped on a pass intended for him, which allowed Robert Alford to get a free play at the ball for the game winning interception.

Previous Next Falcons offensive line: 7/10 The pocket collapsed a little bit too easily for my liking, but the run protection was top-notch. Jake Matthews had another great game at left tackle, as he set the edge for Freeman very well. Pass protection was a little bit shaky in spots, but the line came up big on the final drive of the game for the Falcons.

Previous Next Redskins offensive line: 7/10 I found their game to be somewhat similar to that of what the Falcons produced, but with opposite output. Their pass protection was great, but the running game was spotty at points in the game. Cousins was not under a lot of pressure, and they did create a few gaps in the running game. Overall, I would say they did their job.

Previous Next Falcons defensive line: 5/10 Average for me, because of good overall penetration in the running game, but did not really put much pressure on Cousins. In fact, Cousins was only hit five times the entire game, and was only sacked once. There were no colossal errors, and they were not as bad as they were for much of last season, but improvement is needed in that department.

Previous Next Redskins defensive line: 4/10 Despite getting three sacks on Matt Ryan, the run defense was just not good enough. It got to the point where the only way the Falcons could move the football was to run it right at it, which does not bode well for the rating of this unit. The defensive ends were especially poor, with Freeman frequently being able to turn the corners without much resistance.

Previous Next Falcons secondary: 4/10 Probably the achilles heel for the Falcons today came here. Missed tackles were a common sight, and the Redskins receivers frequently managed to get open downfield. They did not allow any massive, game-changing plays, but they gave up a lot of intermediate passes with soft coverage. Also, the drive that allowed Washington to get the field goal to take the game to overtime was straight on the secondary, as they left three receivers open on three straight plays. I understand they got two interceptions including a game winner in overtime, but those were not as much about good play, but more a function of Washington mistakes. Regardless, Drew Brees could punish those lapses next Thursday.

Previous Next Redskins secondary: 8/10 It is ok to point to Matt Ryan for having a poor game today, because he did, but let’s not take anything away from the Redskins secondary. Their coverage was stout on the usually potent Falcons wide receivers, and also snatched two interceptions. That last drive I keep referring to was not even horrible for them, with lots of short passing killing them rather than the big play. Great job by them, despite the loss today.

Previous Next Falcons special teams: 3/10 It was a rare off day for the Falcons special teams. Matt Bryant missed two field goals, one off each post, which could have changed the game massively. Eric Weems could not get anything going on punt and kick returns, and it was just an overall rough day from a unit that is usually sound.