MKRob Sports

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has thrown seven interceptions over the past three games, the worst stretch of his brief NFL career.

“I’ve got to play better,” Ryan said. “As a quarterback, you’ve got to protect the football better, and I haven’t done a great job of that the last couple of weeks.”

Ryan completed 19 of 42 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown against the Saints. He had a lowly passer rating of 46.6, his third consecutive sub-70 rating.

Ryan’s first interception was returned 38 yards by Jabari Greer for a touchdown.

“It was just a poor decision,” Ryan said. “I have to get rid of the football in that situation.”

The second one killed a potential go-ahead scoring drive in the fourth quarter, when a pass intended for Tony Gonzalez was tipped by Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma and intercepted by Tracy Porter.

“It’s frustrating because we felt like we had that opportunity,” Ryan said.

His last interception came on a desperation heave with three seconds left in the game.

Falcons coach Mike Smith stands behind his quarterback.

“I’m not concerned at all,” Smith said. “Statistically it hasn’t been the best games over the last three games. But again, you can’t make that judgment until after 16 games.”

However, Smith did see some issues with the Falcons’ passing attack.

“It looked like we had opportunities to get the ball down the field, but we weren’t able to do it,” Smith said.