Matt Ryan and the Falcons are soaring to the Super Bowl with a newly mastered offense. But can their QB avoid falling to Earth?
HIS MIND’S INTERIOR monologue is an eruption of profanity. He’s just thrown another interception. In the artificially placid room temp of Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, Matt Ryan is watching the safety recede into the distance. Ryan too is running as fast as he can. Dutifully, instinctively, he’s giving chase, but he has no chance of catching the thief. In the instant of the error, everyone knows the safety will take the ball 100 yards into the opposite end zone. The crowd groans.
Moments earlier, Ryan had engineered an electric comeback—an 80-yard drive capped by a quarterback scramble for first down on third-and-9, then a quick toss for the go-ahead touchdown, 28-27. Victory over the Chiefs in Week 13 seemed assured.But to put the Falcons up by a field goal, to seal the game and improve the team’s record to 8–4 and move into the final stretch of the season as a playoff favorite, Falcons coach Dan Quinn had decided to go for two. Then Chiefs safety Eric Berry stepped in front of Ryan’s throw, intended for a crossing tight end, and scored the first “pick-two” in NFL history. Later, Ryan will take the blame. He will say that he “peeked” at Berry before the snap, tipping him off.
Regular-season stats for 2016: 117.1 QB rating, first in the NFL. Total QBR: 83.3, first in the NFL. Nearly 5,000 yards passing, a 69.9 percent completion rate, 38 touchdowns—all top-three in the league. His 9.26 yards per pass attempt is the highest in NFL history (minimum 500 attempts). Thirteen different Falcons players caught passes for touchdowns from Ryan in the regular season; no quarterback has ever thrown for TDs to as many targets. In measures both familiar and obscure, football fans in 2016 have witnessed an unprecedented flourishing of offensive production from Matt Ryan.
This story is from the February 06,2017 edition of ESPN The Magazine.
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This story is from the February 06,2017 edition of ESPN The Magazine.
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