Matt Ryan Week 6 Outlook -

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Thu, Oct 15th 2020, 8:35am EDT

What in the world has happened to Ryan? After throwing for 723 yards and six touchdowns through the first two weeks of the season and being the No. 6 quarterback in fantasy football, he's fallen off a cliff and has thrown for just 749 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions over the last three games. It's clear that the loss of Julio Jones has had a massive effect on the offense, but we figured Ryan could at least be competent against the Packers and Panthers defenses. There were just two games where he had fewer than 14.5 fantasy points last year, while he already has three games with less than 12.5 fantasy points this year. The Vikings defense is coming off their best performance of the year last week. Sure, Russell Wilson still finished with 24.5 fantasy points, but the 6.8 yards per attempt they held him to was impressive. The rain surely didn't help, but it was the first time this season they'd allowed less than 8.3 yards per attempt. Even after that performance, they've allowed 8.28 yards per attempt, which ranks as the fourth-highest mark in the league. Three quarterbacks have been able to throw for 300-plus yards against them, including both of their home games, so it's far from a must-avoid matchup. We all know Ryan is a strictly pocket passer, so it should make you feel a bit better to know the Vikings have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per actual pass attempt this year. The firing of Dan Quinn won't change anything with the offense, as Dirk Koetter is still running that side of the ball. You have to err on the side of caution with Ryan considering how he's played the last three weeks, but knowing the Vikings opponents have averaged 66.0 plays per game and that the Falcons run the ball just 37.6 percent of the time should present plenty of opportunity. If Jones remains out, Ryan is just a mediocre QB2. If Jones returns, Ryan should be considered a low-end QB1/high-end QB2 for this game.