Matt Ryan: Super Bowl Champ in 2015?

Since the first Super Bowl was played after the 1966 season, the average age of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks is 29.8 years old.

The average age of the losing quarterbacks in Super Bowls is 30.2. This tells us that in the 44 years since the Super Bowl began, the two starting quarterbacks have been, on average, 30 years old.

I bring this up to temper expectations for this season and even the next five-to-six seasons. Hit the jump for more Falcons goodness.

Matt Ryan is a terrific talent at quarterback and after the Joey Harrington era, I think we can all agree it’s a great feeling to have someone behind center who you have complete confidence in.

I do believe Ryan will win a Super Bowl – he’s that kind of talent. However, there’s a lot of that talent that never reaches that pinnacle (Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon).

The reason I point this out is Ryan will be 25 when this year’s Super Bowl kicks off, or almost five years younger than the average winner’s age.

Obviously, it’s just an average and there have been winner’s as young as 23 (Ben Roethlisberger) and as old as 38 (John Elway), but 44 years of data means something.

I think the Falcons have the talent to compete at a very high level this season. I do believe they could win now. I just want to put into perspective how special Ryan is and how we should give him another five or six years before we start saying he can’t win the big one, because as we know, it takes a while.

Your Turn

What do you think? Is the pressure on to win now with aging veterans, John Abraham and Tony Gonzalez? Would Falcon fans be content if Atlanta didn’t win a Super Bowl until 2014 or 2015? Let me know in the comments or start the conversation on Twitter.