FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Mike Smith, alarmed by the beating that quarterback Matt Ryan has taken in the Falcons’ first three games, may make changes on his offensive line this week.
Smith said Monday he is looking first at the Falcons’ scheme and then at the players following Atlanta’s 16-13 loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday. He said it is the continuation of his trend of “competition on all positions.”
“We’ve done it earlier in the season at other positions on the team, and we'll do it at the offensive line as well,” Smith said.
“We’ll let that play out during the week and try to put the best guys out there. That’s our job as a coaching staff to make sure we have the best guys out there to give us what we feel is the best opportunity to win.”
The Falcons (1-2) have allowed 13 sacks in three games, the third-highest total in the NFL through Sunday’s games. Chicago and Seattle each have allowed 14 sacks, according to STATS LLC.
Ryan was sacked four times by the Buccaneers.
“We are very disappointed with the way we have protected our quarterback in the first three ball games,” Smith said.
He said the line also struggled in run-blocking as Tampa Bay held Michael Turner to only 20 yards rushing on 11 carries. He had seven carries for nine yards in the first half.
“We probably didn’t run effectively enough in the first half to keep going with it and so we went to the pass game, and I thought Matt did a fairly good job of distributing the ball,” Smith said.
Ryan finished with 330 yards passing with a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez in the fourth quarter. It was the Falcons’ first touchdown on offense in two road games this season — losses at Chicago and Tampa Bay.
The Falcons face another road game at Seattle this week.
Ryan also was sacked four times in the Falcons’ only win, a 35-31 home victory over Philadelphia. Ryan was sacked 23 times last season. He’s on pace to top that total in only six games this year.
Lack of continuity could be one issue. The Falcons lost guard Harvey Dahl, who signed with St. Louis as a free agent. Center Todd McClure missed the first two games after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.