The Atlanta Falcons offensive line was dominated by the Carolina Panthers defensive front in a 19-12 loss on Sunday. The Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades have come in, and they highlight the carnage.
Of course grades are subjective, and the people doing the grades can change from week to week, and even player to player, but they can make for a good tool to verify what the stats and eye test might have shown on Sunday.
The eye test was easy.
The Falcons were whipped up front by the Panthers' defensive front. The stats backed up what we saw on Sunday. Atlanta rushed for just 82 yards, and quarterback Matt Ryan was hit nine times including three sacks and a bloodied hand.
PFF graded each position and some linemen seemed to hold up better than others.
The left side of the Falcons line was particularly bleak.
Left tackle Jake Matthews graded a season-low 48.7 overall and a season low 34.0 pass block grade. Left guard Jalen Mayfield graded a 45.4, which is actually a bit better than his season grade of 38.8, but his pass block grade was 27.8 on Sunday.
Matthews has been about average all season. His 65.0 season grade puts him 44th out of 79 qualified offensive tackles in the NFL, but his $12.3 million salary cap hit places him sixth in the NFL according to Spotrac.
Mayfield's 38.8 grade for the season places him 73rd out of 74 eligible guards in the NFL. He's only ahead of Tytus Howard of the Houston Texans. It's no surprise that the rookie is struggling, but the Falcons are going to need better than bottom of the barrel line play from him moving forward.
More concerning is right guard Chris Lindstrom. Lindstrom's 49.8 grade against he Panthers was well off his season average of 79.4. His pass blocking grade of 47.5 continued an ugly trend; Lindstrom's pass blocking grade has gotten worse for five consecutive weeks.
Center Matt Hennessy seems to have come away unscathed by the PFF graders. He graded a season-high 68.7 overall to go with a season-high 72.1 pass block grade.
Was this Hennessy's best performance of the season?
Panthers defensive tackles DaQuan Jones and Derrick Brown also got season-high grades working against Mayfield, Hennessy and Lindstrom with 76.7 and 86.1 respectively. They weren't working exclusively against the guards. Hennessy's lofty grade seems a bit of an outlier.
If there was a positive sign on the offensive line, it would be right tackle Kaleb McGary. McGary missed last week's win against the Miami Dolphins. Jason Spriggs filled in admirably while he was out. On his return, McGary turned in his highest grade of the season. His 70.3 overall and 71.0 pass block grade were both season highs.
The Panthers have the second-ranked defense in the NFL, but it doesn't get a lot easier against New Orleans on Sunday. The Saints rank 10th overall on defense and are particularly stingy up front with the league's second-ranked rush defense.
Head coach Arthur Smith addressed the concerns on both lines of scrimmage on Monday. If the Falcons continue to get dominated in the trenches, wins are going to be tough to come by.
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