Atlanta Falcons: Should the Falcons prepare for Matt Ryan’s decline?
As the Atlanta Falcons franchise’s career leader in wins (74), passing touchdowns (202), and QBR ratings (91.1), Matt Ryan has established himself as one of the Falcons’ best player in franchise history but can his success carry Atlanta to success before time runs out?
Back in 2012, Matt Ryan had arguably the best quarterback season in the Atlanta Falcon’s history. He finished with outstanding numbers including,700 yards passing, 32 touchdowns, and a career-best 68.6 percent completion percentage. Ryan also helped lead the Falcons to a 13-3 record and to the team’s first NFC Championship since 2004.
Despite Atlanta going through the next two seasons with a combined 10-22 record, Ryan was still able to throw for over 9,200 yards, 52 passing touchdowns, and have a 66.7 percent completion rate over the time period. Unfortunately,while still under the Mike Smith reign, the Falcons weren’t able to build through neither the NFL draft or by making key additions through free agency. This left Ryan to make due with under performing players like Sam Baker, Steven Jackson, and Lamar Holmes.
The Falcons failed to develop talent and their misuse of players who could have blossomed into valuable pieces. Not to defend Ryan for his lackluster performance during the 2015 season but Atlanta had missed their chance help surround CONSISTENT talent around their franchise quarterback who may now be heading towards the bottom part of his career.
Yes, the Falcons have now provided Ryan with a stable run game that the team has been missing since 2012. Yes, the Falcons have developed talent around the defense to help support Ryan’s ability to control the ball but it will be on Ryan’s abilities to minimize his mistakes on the field and having confidence in his throws down the field.
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Of course, there will be speculations that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has forced Ryan to understand a new system rather compromising to satisfy both parties but this isn’t on Shanahan’s head. I’ve had my fair share of anger towards Shanahan and his play-calling but as an NFL quarterback, your job is to adjust and become the most reliable player on the field. That is a challenge that Ryan has struggled since the arrival of the Dan Quinn’s regime.
Head coach Dan Quinn has found success from his former team by doing two things: Control the football and play dominating defense. Seattle has been fortunate of finding quarterback Russell Wilson but for the most part of the championship runs they have built upon dominating opposing offense and eliminating turnovers. Quinn took noticed of that and now see it has the safest plan to succeed in the NFL but it doesn’t happens unless Matt Ryan can find a way to be productive and eliminate simple mistakes.
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The 2016 season may be the most critical in Ryan’s career in Atlanta. Not to say that if he doesn’t perform at a high level that Atlanta will release him and find other answers but it does leave them with a head start to develop talent to pick where Ryan may leave off. Hopefully, the nine-year pro can turn things around and help lead the Atlanta Falcons to a long-awaited championship in the future.