ATLANTA -- Arthur Blank believes in Matt Ryan.
The Atlanta Falcons owner made that very clear, even after watching his $100 million quarterback make a couple more bad mistakes in a 20-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. It was the Falcons' fourth consecutive defeat.
Ryan threw two interceptions, including one in the end zone that changed the momentum midway through the third quarter. He has 10 interceptions and three lost fumbles over the past seven games.
Blank was asked if he has confidence in Ryan.
"Absolutely,'' Blank said told ESPN.com. "He's demonstrated his abilities over eight years. He'll be fine. He'll be good.''
Blank's concern is more about the Falcons as a whole, rather than Ryan's individual struggles.
"Am I worried about Matt? I'm worried about Matt, and I'm worried about the team,'' Blank said. "We're actually 1-5 in the last six games. We were off to a great start [5-0]. But this unit [the coaching staff] will figure it out.''
Coach Dan Quinn once again expressed his support for Ryan. Quinn said he is not thinking about benching any players at this point. The Falcons truly don't have an option behind Ryan, with inexperienced Sean Renfree the only other quarterback on the active roster. Renfree's only playing time was mop-up duty in a 48-21 blowout of the Houston Texans in Week 4.
"He's absolutely the competitor that I want. He's what we look for and our team looks for the whole way," Quinn said of Ryan. "What we'll go back and look at is, find out was there a decision that could be made that could be different. If there is in those scenarios, then we'll find those and say, 'Where else could you have gone with it?' Those will be decisions that we look at.
"But for him, the competitor [and] the style of player that he is, we're not backing off.''
Ryan threw multiple interceptions in a game for the fifth time this season, which is tied with Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck for most in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information. One of the interceptions was on an overthrown pass intended for Jacob Tamme in the end zone. It was Ryan's fourth interception on a red zone play this season, most in the NFL. The four red zone interceptions this season are already twice as many as Ryan's previous career high for a season. He had none last season.
Ryan attributed Sunday's interceptions to forcing a play that wasn't there in the end zone and misplacing a ball on a throw to Nick Williams.
"It's starts with me,'' Ryan said. "I've got to be better in terms of decision-making and knowing when to throw the ball away, cut our losses and kick the field goal. But we've got to really look in the mirror hard Monday and Tuesday before we get onto the practice field Wednesday and see what we can do differently to stop that from happening. For me, it starts with making great decisions, and I didn't do a good job of that.''
Ryan has lost three straight games at the Georgia Dome for the first time in his career.