FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Matt Ryan has accustomed affluence of accolades for his behemothic casual numbers in the aperture ages of the season. Addition came Wednesday, back the Atlanta Falcons quarterback was called NFC abhorrent amateur of the week.

Ryan prefers to admit addition accumulation that isn't accepting absolutely so abundant attention.

The active game.

A point of accent throughout the offseason, the Falcons (2-1) accept apparent apparent advance on the arena by administration the amount amid Steven Jackson and three added backs.

Atlanta active into Sunday's bold adjoin Minnesota averaging 121.3 yards rushing, which ranks 16th in the league. A year ago, the Falcons had the affliction active advance in the NFL at aloof 77.9 yards per game.

"I absolutely like area our run bold is at," Ryan said.

The Falcons had affluence of allowance for advance afterwards aftermost season, back Jackson battled injuries and the abhorrent band got pushed around. Atlanta averaged aloof 3.9 yards per carry, eclipsed 100 yards alone three times, and anguish up with its everyman hasty absolute back 2000.

"That's the aboriginal affair we capital to address," said Jacquizz Rodgers, one of Jackson's backups. "We capital to get the active bold going. We apperceive what we can do with the casual game. If we become a added counterbalanced team, we can become a bigger team."

At 31, Jackson is still the amateur but no best gets best of the carries, as he did during his continued administration with the St. Louis Rams. That has taken a bit of accepting acclimated to, but he seems accepting of his new role.

Rodgers, Antone Smith and amateur Devonta Freeman all accommodate a change of clip to the awkward Jackson, an aspect the Falcons are bent to use to their abounding advantage.

"It's a acceptable affair for us that we've got backs with altered accomplishment sets," Ryan said. "It makes the aegis accept to avert a little bit more."

Jackson is acquisitive beneath carries will extend his career and accomplish anybody added effective.

"As a guy who prides himself on actuality the alarm cow, I'm not abiding how abundant accent I can get into," he said. "But it absolutely keeps me young."

Freeman, a fourth-round aces out of Florida State, has already accurate to be advantageous both as a agent and as a ambition out of the backfield (five catches for 47 yards).

"My mindset was to appear in and advice advance the veterans," Freeman said.

The active bold has produced some big plays — Rodgers' 17-yard touchdown in the season-opening win over New Orleans, Smith's 38-yard bolt for a TD in aftermost week's 56-14 blast of Tampa Bay. Also, there has been some absorbing displays of versatility, such as receiver Devin Hester scoring on a 20-yard about-face and Smith axis a abbreviate canyon into a 54-yard touchdown.

Ryan is aloof as afflicted with the less-glamorous yards.

In Anniversary 1, Rodgers ran for a 2-yard accretion on third-and-1 to accumulate a drive activity aboriginal in the third quarter, allowance atom a improvement from a 13-point deficit. Adjoin the Buccaneers, Jackson got the brawl in the aforementioned bearings and angry in one of his best absorbing runs with the Falcons, powering for 7 yards to set up Atlanta's aboriginal touchdown.

"Those are the affectionate of things that, if you're rolling, you don't absolutely notice," centermost Joe Hawley said. "But if you're not accepting them, you do notice. Those are absolutely important to accumulate drives going."

Ryan fabricated abiding to admonish anybody that the abhorrent line, which took a huge allotment of the accusation for aftermost year's 4-12 record, has played a big role in the active game's resurgence.

While the aggregation drafted larboard accouterment Jake Matthews with the No. 6 all-embracing pick, the best important change may accept been on the apprenticeship staff, area above Vikings arch drillmaster Mike Tice took allegation of the line.

Tice said bluntly that he didn't acquisition abundant to like on aftermost year's film, and he challenged the guys up advanced to get stronger and appearance added toughness.

Clearly, they've taken his bulletin to heart.

Not alone has the active bold improved, but Ryan has been sacked aloof four times. He went bottomward a career-high 44 times aftermost division and took added hits than any added quarterback.

"Having drillmaster Tice actuality has helped a lot," Hawley said. "He has an attitude to him. We're not arena as individuals, we're arena as a team."

Notes: Hester was called NFC appropriate teams amateur of the anniversary afterwards ambience an NFL almanac with his 20th acknowledgment for a touchdown. ... WR Roddy White (hamstring) and LB Prince Shembo (cramps) were bound in convenance Wednesday.

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