FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons were built to be an explosive offensive team.

At home in the Georgia Dome this season, they have averaged 42.5 points over two games.

On the road, in outdoor stadiums, they have averaged only 19.3 and have lost all of those games.

The Falcons are set to host the Chicago Bears at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at the Georgia Dome before playing their next four games at Baltimore, against Detroit in London, at Tampa Bay and at Carolina.

If the win-at-home, lose-on-the-road pattern holds up, they Falcons will be 3-7 and facing early elimination from the playoff derby.

The Falcons held a 10-point lead against the Giants in the third quarter.

“Then we kind of faded away on offense,” Falcons wide receiver Roddy White said. “We had a chance right there to put them away, but we didn’t handle our business on offense.”

The Falcons haven’t won a game outdoors since topping Tampa Bay on Nov. 25, 2012. Their only road victory in 2013 came against the Bills in Toronto, with the roof closed at the Rogers Centre.

The offense, the strength of the team, couldn’t take advantage of two first-half scoring opportunities and had to settle for 20-yard Matt Bryant field goals.

Also, the unit struggled on third down, as they converted only two of 13 times on third down.

“We didn’t convert enough in the red zone,” White said. “We didn’t get the touchdowns that we needed.”

Quarterback Matt Ryan did a good job of escaping pressure most of the day, but could not convert on a pivotal fourth-down gamble. He completed 29 of 45 passes for 316 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s very tough when you have 10-point lead in the second half,” Ryan said of losing. “You feel like you have some momentum. … It’s difficult.”

The Falcons stalled after moving away from wide receiver Julio Jones in the second half. He had no explanations as to why that happened.

Jones tied his career-high with 11 catches and compiled 105 yards, but he only had three receptions for 17 yards in the final 24 minutes. With Jones stifled by double teams, the Falcons didn’t have enough other offensive options.

“Throughout the course of the game, I kept getting a safety down to my side, a corner playing outside,” Jones said. “They were just doing that. We just had to pick our spots. They did a great job. Hats off to them.”

Ryan said the team didn’t intentionally minimize Jones’ role.

“I don’t think it was anything by design,” Ryan said. “Obviously, Julio’s one of our premier guys. We’re going to try to get him the ball every chance that we get one-on-one opportunities.

“But across the board, we just weren’t able to get into a rhythm.”

REPORT CARD VS. GIANTS

PASSING OFFENSE: C plus — Matt Ryan completed 29 of 45 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown. He finished with a passer rating of 83.2 The Falcons got away from Julio Jones in the second half. He was targeted 11 times and had eight catches at halftime. In the second half, he was targeted only five more times and had three catches. Roddy White and Devin Hester had four targets and caught two passes. Some needs to step forward in the red zone as Ryan’s new go-to receiver with Tony Gonzalez retired.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C-minus — Steven Jackson had 13 carries for 3.8 for a poor 2.8 yards per carry. He did have an 11-yard touchdown run. Devonta Freeman had four carries for 38 yards. Inexplicably, Antone Smith had only one carry. Overall, the Falcons rushed 21 times for 90 yards. They gained 34 yards on the final last-ditch drive at garbage time. So, they really had 56 yards on 19 carries (2.9 yards per carry) when the game mattered. Antone Smith had a 74-yard touchdown reception.

PASS DEFENSE: C –- There was a blown coverage in one of defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s exotic looks that ended up with Paul Worrilow as the safety, and he didn’t get deep enough. Also, second-year cornerback Robert Alford didn’t hold up, as Eli Manning targeted him in the second half. He had four penalties, including two on one play. The Falcons gave up touchdown passes to Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham Jr., while they shut out tight end Larry Donnell.

RUSH DEFENSE: C — The defensive backs came up strong in run support. Kemal Ishmael, Dwight Lowery and Dezmen Southward all made plays. Defensive end Kroy Biermann didn’t let the Giants just walk around his end all day. He had five tackles and one tackle for a loss. After giving up 241 yards rushing to Minnesota, the Falcons held the Giants to 124 yards on 34 carries, for a respectable 3.6 yards per carry. Paul Worrilow looked bad as he got bowled over on Andre Williams’ touchdown run. There were no impact plays from the inside linebackers.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus — Punter Matt Bosher had an off day. He averaged only 32.6 yards per punt and had one real stinker. The specials teams set up the offense on the 21-yard line when Jonathan Massaquoi forced a fumble that was recovered by Eric Weems. Devin Hester averaged 11.5 yards on two punt returns and 20 yards on three kickoff returns.

COACHING: C — The offense tried to establish the run. They had some success early, but once the Giants made their adjustments they were able to shut the offense down. After their red zone failures in the first half, the Falcons only scored on one of seven second-half possessions. It seems like the defense has been getting roasted whenever it goes to one of those exotic looks. They may just want to sit in a zone and keep the ball in front of them.