Falcons Post-Week 4 Fantasy Outlook

3. Matt Ryan

An Early MVP Candidate: Matt Ryan (28-37, 503 passing yards (!!!!!), 4 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 4 carries, 14 rushing yards: 35.52 points)

Finally playing against a “real defense” (according to his critics or “haters” as I like to call them, his stats were inflated because he was playing some sub-par defenses the first three weeks) Matt Ryan put up a stat-line that resembled more of a game of Madden than it did an actual NFL game.

Mattie Ice put up a new franchise record for passing yards in a game, and looked sharp as a tack throughout the entire afternoon. His connection with Julio Jones was immaculate, as the two linked up for 300 yards through the air.

There was one bad mistake which came in the form of a pic-6 thrown while the Falcons were in the shadow of their own goal-posts, deep inside their own territory.

However, the way Ryan bounced back from what was, at the the time, a catastrophic turnover really says something about his character and leadership. He did not let that mistake define his afternoon.

All four touchdown passes were distributed to different receivers — Jacob Tamme, Austin Hooper, Aldrick Robinson, Julio Jones — and the nine different players caught a pass. While Julio Jones was the focal point of the passing game this week, Ryan has continued to distribute the wealth the way he’s been doing all season.

Analysis: Matt Ryan is the highest scoring fantasy QB at the quarter point of the season. He’s scored over 24 fantasy points in three games, and would have easily surpassed that total in the fourth (against the Saints) if the run game wasn’t so dominant.

Atlanta now travels to Denver for a match against one of the most stifling pass defenses in the NFL. I will not tell you to bench the number 1 scoring QB in fantasy football, but I warn Matt Ryan fantasy owners to tamper their expectations next week.