Falcons vs. Buccaneers: Ryan says next 10 days key

After narrowly escaping Sunday's game with a 23-19 win over the Arizona Cardinals, Matt Ryan said on Wednesday that the next 10 days are important to him and his team.

Ryan and the Falcons will try to clean up their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The Bucs enter the game with a 6-4 record.

Ryan threw five interceptions, but a Michael Turner touchdown late in the game pushed the Falcons to their ninth win of the season Sunday.

"It's going to be important and I don't think you can look past this weekend," Ryan said during his weekly press conference. "Coming up with a division game against a team that's playing very good football right now, it is important. We know that this time a year, you want the games to be important and we're right there. We're right in the mix and we just need to start playing better football."

Arizona led 13-0 after the first quarter, but 16 second-quarter points from Atlanta had the game tied at halftime. Ryan finished the game 28-for-46 for 301 yards. He did not have a touchdown pass.

It was nearly the Falcons' second loss in as many weeks. Atlanta started the season 8-0, but its perfect record was sunk two weeks ago against the New Orleans Saints, 31-27. Despite the loss, Ryan was much more efficient, completing 65 percent of his passes for 411 yards and three touchdowns. He was picked off just one time.

Even though the Bucs are the 32nd defense against the pass, Ryan said the Bucs "do a great job with their pressure packages in their base personnel group. It's something we're going to have to be prepared for and execute well against."