![\"Jake](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1345211877-e1647272330502.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Jake Matthews #70 of the Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n
Atlanta Falcon<\/a>s Jake Matthews<\/a> has been a cornerstone on the offensive line for more than a decade. Matthews was selected by the Falcons with the 6th overall pick in the 2014 draft. Pro Football Focus placed Matthews on their top 30 players over 30 list going into 2025. Dalton Wasserman<\/a> ranked Matthews 24 on the list as he has been one of the most consistent pass blockers in the league:<\/p>\n Matthews remains one of the NFL\u2019s most consistent pass protectors entering his age-33 season. He earned an 85.4 pass-blocking grade in 2024 \u2014 the second-best of his career \u2014 and has posted a grade above 80.0 in eight of the past ten seasons. His durability also stands out, with over 1,000 snaps played in each of the past 10 years.<\/p>\n Matthews signs an extension this season<\/p>\n Earlier this season Matthews signed a two-year extension. Every great offensive line has a tone-setter, and for the Falcons that\u2019s Jake. He communicates pre-snap protections, helps younger linemen recognize stunts and blitzes, and holds the entire front five accountable. Unfortunately, Matthews has only made one Pro Bowl team during his career.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s so deserving of any type of recognition that he gets,\u201d Falcons offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford said<\/a>. \u201cBecause that\u2019s a huge feat. You don\u2019t see that a lot. For him to do that \u2013 be consistently playing at the level that he\u2019s done so for so long now and continue to do so \u2013 that\u2019s very special.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe people in that building know how valuable he is to the organization,\u201d Bruce said.<\/a> \u201cHe\u2019s been a little frustrated by not getting some of the accolades, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Man, the greatest endorsement you get is by the Falcons extending your contract. Because they don\u2019t do that for everybody.’\u201d<\/p>\n Many feel like Jake got his work ethic from his hall-of-fame dad Bruce Matthews who is a hall-of-fame tackle.<\/p>\n Matthews has been an iron man for Atlanta<\/p>\n Matthews has played in and started 179 out of 180 games as a professional.<\/p>\n \u201cI think his greatest quality is that he never gets mentioned,\u201d Bruce said.<\/a> \u201cI know the coaches, and there never has to be a conversation about the left tackle, like, \u2018Is Jake going to show up this week?\u2019 There\u2019s never a conversation about, \u2018Well, can we do that on the left side?\u2019 Because Jake is there. They know he\u2019s a very intuitive and athletic player.<\/p>\n \u201cJake makes us all better,\u201d Ledford said.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s not just us as a team. He makes me better as a coach and makes his teammates better as players. We\u2019re very fortunate to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n This season will be different for Matthews as he will not be the blindside blocker as this year\u2019s starting quarterback will be Michael Penix who is a left-handed quarterback. Matthews\u2019s leadership will be counted on again this season as he is the anchor of not only the offensive line but the offense as well. It should be another pro bowl caliber season for the Falcons iron man.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tHorace Shivers<\/a> Horace Shivers is a seasoned sports journalist along with being a NFL, college football and NBA insider. He is serving as a writer at Heavy Sports. With a career spanning over 3 years, Shivers has established himself as a prominent voice in sports media, known for his in-depth reporting and engaging storytelling. More about Horace Shivers<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\tMore Heavy on Falcons News\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Jake Matthews #70 of the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta Falcons Jake Matthews has been a cornerstone on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,224,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-81481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-falcons","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114576961569781500","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\u25b6\ufe0f\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/512.png=s64.png\")
Watch Team News & Highlights<\/p>\n