There are days where a quarterback doesn’t have his best stuff. Just like a pitcher in baseball, some days you have it, some days you don’t. It’s safe to say that Matt Ryan did not have his best stuff on Sunday, throwing interceptions to Aqib Talib and Ronde Barber in the first half. But in the NFL, winning is all that matters and Ryan was able to do that as he led the offense in overtime to a 13-10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Offensively, we didn’t play as well as we would have like to,” Ryan said, “but that we were still able to come up with the win speaks volumes for our defense and what they did today.”
The defense did come up big, led by John Abraham and his three sacks. But it was Ryan who finished the drill as he came up with two big runs (not passes) in the overtime period to keep the drive alive, giving Jason Elam a chance to kick a 34-yard field goal to give the Falcons their ninth win of the season.
“Tampa’s defense did a good job all day,” said Ryan, who finished the day 15-for-23 with 206 yards and two picks. That’s a tough team to go play against. So we needed to make a couple of plays out of the ordinary down the stretch. That’s what good football teams do.”
Some might say that this was a playoff game for the Falcons and that the Georgia Dome was a playoff-type atmosphere. For Ryan, he knows the playoffs are a few weeks away and that they need to focus on next Sunday. But he did appreciate what the fans brought today.
“It was a great atmosphere in the Dome today,” Ryan stated. “Our fans had that place loud and they were into it.”
Overall, Ryan turned in a solid performance despite the two interceptions. He made plays when he needed to and was never rattled in the pocket.
“He was very efficient,” head coach Mike Smith said. “I know there are a couple of throws he would like to have back, but he put some nice throws in pressure situations. To win a game like this, when we are not hitting on all cylinders, is huge.”
Now the Falcons will look towards their last away game of the year next Sunday, as they will travel to Minnesota to face the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings. Like Tampa, the Vikings are aggressive on the defensive front, led by defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams. With the Falcons needing a win to come close to clinching a playoff spot, Ryan and the rest of the team refuse to look too far into the future.
“You can’t worry about it,” Ryan said. “Right now you can’t worry about the playoffs or anything like that. It’s just about playing Minnesota next week and doing everything that we can as a team and as a coaching staff to go out there and get a win.”
Jones can be reached at bjones@scoreatl.com.
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