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The Falcons' offense ran into major problems in the second half of the Giants game thanks primarily to blocking woes up front. With the limited time he had, Matt Ryan often didn't have more than a beat to try to find an open receiver, and there weren't necessarily a ton of open ones in that span.
Blalock & Douglas could be back for Sunday's game. Other updates to injured Falcons: http://t.co/zJtssJmjnz pic.twitter.com/TV9rIHYP62
— Atlanta_Falcons (@Atlanta_Falcons) October 6, 2014
Getting back Justin Blalock and Harry Douglas would help. Blalock is the team's most consistent lineman, a useful guard in pass protection and a gigantic step up over Harland Gunn, who despite a game effort and some nice run blocking found pass pro to be a genuine struggle. HD isn't a world beater, but having him in the game adds a useful possession player to the field when Ryan's going through his reads. With Roddy White scuffling a bit and Devin Hester running hot and cold as a receiver, that's going to be valuable.
There are no locks when we're talking about injuries on Monday, but even a little bit of unveiled optimism is welcome given that Douglas has now missed two weeks and Blalock was a crucial missing piece against the Giants.
In related news, the Falcons will be mulling whether to bring Drew Davis off PUP in the very near future. To me, it's an easy answer: If he's healthy, he's a more valuable player than Courtney Roby and ought to be back on the active roster. We'll see if the Falcons agree.