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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Much was made about Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and his athletic compatibility with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's offense. After Ryan looked pedestrian at times in 2015 while tossing 16 interceptions, it was openly discussed if he was a good fit for all of the bootlegs, waggles and rollouts in the outside zone scheme.
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Ryan will go into New Orleans next week as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league after guiding the Falcons to a 528-yard outburst in Sunday's 35-28 victory against the Oakland Raiders. He led the Falcons to scores on six of their last seven possessions of the game.
"I thought we did a great job offensively getting in to a rhythm," Ryan said. "We didn't do a whole lot in the first quarter, but once we kind of found our stride, we kept going and played really well. (We) did a better job in the red zone (3 of 6).
The Falcons opened the game in the no-huddle offense and ran it for 16 plays in the first half.
"Some weeks it's an advantage for us; this week we felt like it was," said Ryan, who has been proficient in the no-huddle since his rookie year. "They've got some big guys on that defensive front. We did a great job with the tempo -- it was effective for us. I thought we ran the ball extremely well out of no-huddle and also we hit some big shots down the field. Going sideline to sideline with all the key plays that we did, I really thought it was effective for us."
The Falcons will attempt to keep the tight ends involved against the Saints. The Falcons used their 13 personnel -- one back and three tight ends -- often against the Raiders. Jacob Tamme, Levine Toilolo and rookie Austin Hooper helped to power the run game and caught 10 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown against the Raiders.
"Those guys got in there, did a good job for us," Ryan said. "Levine and Austin made some really good plays. Jacob did a great job for us. I thought that was a good matchup."
The Falcons hadn't rushed for more than 100 yards over the past six games dating to last season. On Sunday, Atlanta rushed for 139 yards on 29 carries.
"I thought both our backs did an awesome job running," Ryan said. "Tevin (Coleman) and Davonta (Freeman) were physical the entire day, ran with great vision and made some plays, kind of cutting the ball back and getting outside. I thought they were awesome for us, caught the ball well out of the backfield.
"We've got two really good guys, but to me, it's all about the offensive line. Our guys up front, they stepped up to the challenge and played really well across the board."
The Saints defeated the Falcons twice last season and will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the city's rebirth after Hurricane Katrina. The Falcons know that feeling of going into a jacked-up Mercedes-Benz Superdome to play the role of the Washington Generals.
Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon was already looking forward to playing against the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
"We have an extra day to prepare," Weatherspoon said. "Who knows what (coach Dan Quinn) is going to have us do."
