Falcons vs. Saints is a classic NFL rivalry. It’s understood that these franchises don’t have the best histories, but the game on Sunday was different because a win would put either the Falcons or the Saints in the thick of the playoff race. This game was by far the biggest game in Matt Ryan’s young career. Could he handle the pressure? Would he be able to withstand an aggressive Saints D-line?
“Matty Ice,” as he is coming to be known, put those questions to rest. He looked like a veteran NFL quarterback, not a rookie, as the Falcons handled the Saints 34-20.
What made things easy for Ryan is not the fact that the running game was strong throughout the contest. Cornerbacks Randall Gay and Mike McKenzie were playing off Falcons receivers in the first quarter and Ryan was able to play pitch-and-catch as he went 4 for 5 for 48 yards and a touchdown strike to Roddy White.
“That’s kind of typical of what they’ve done all year,” Ryan said about the Saints secondary. “That’s their style of defense and I thought they were consistent in that today.”
It’s no secret that the Saints’ offense is one of the best in the league. One of the keys to the victory was that Ryan was able to get off to a fast start, which meant the defense was getting stop and the offense was scoring quickly.
“It was important for us this week to start off quick because we were playing against such a good team and such a good offense,” Ryan added. “(We) didn’t score on the first drive although we got a great turnover from our defense, but we were able to pin them in field position the next time and we got the ball back with very good field position again and went right down the field and put up some points, which was huge.”
Before the game started, the most anticipated matchup was that of Matt Ryan vs. Drew Brees, a likely MVP candidate. Well, Brees ended the day with two touchdowns and three interceptions with a quarterback rating of 66.9. Thank John Abraham and the rest of the Falcons defensive line, as they pressured Brees all game long and never could get a rhythm going. As for the rookie QB out of Boston College, he finished the game with 248 yards, two touchdowns, zero picks and a rating of 134.0, as he was not sacked and rarely pressured.
“[Ryan] is maturing each week,” head coach Mike Smith said. “As long as he can continue to develop, we’ll continue to add to what we can do offensively.”
Now that the Falcons have won the first of their three-game home stand, it’s now time to focus on the Denver Broncos, as they are coming off a big win over the Cleveland Browns last Thursday. They were led by quarterback Jay Cutler, who threw for 447 yards and three touchdowns. It should be another intriguing matchup as two young quarterbacks are looking to lead their teams to the playoffs.
“I’ve seen [Denver] play a couple of times throughout the year but I haven’t studied them on film,” Ryan said. “Just get back to work tomorrow, take a look at them, and try to get ready to go.
If the Falcons are able to beat Denver, they would improve to 7-3 and be a serious contender for the playoffs and even a division title. But don’t say the ‘P’ word around Ryan just yet.
“At this point we’re 6-3, we’ve got seven more to go,” Ryan said. “A lot will be determined through those seven weeks. But right now we’re focused on trying to beat the Denver Broncos. It was a good win, but we’ve got to get back to work tomorrow and try to get a win next week.”
Jones can be reached at bjones@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
