Atlanta Falcons fans won’t appreciate Matt Ryan until he’s gone

There are only a few teams like the Atlanta Falcons that are blessed with having one of the better quarterbacks in the league and he is often the most disrespected.

It’s no secret that the quarterback position is the most important position in football and maybe in all of sports; Matt Ryan is the face of the Atlanta Falcons in this country’s most popular sport.

There have been questions about him being elite. There have been times where he’s been compared to Joe Flacco and Kirk Cousins. People say that his numbers are misleading. He can’t lead a team.

There have even been a select few that say he should be traded but for who?

There is no doubt that Matt Ryan has a lot of expectations as the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons and when those expectations don’t get met, here comes all the hatred and doubt. When the team does win, the defense might get some credit. People will point out the stats put up by Julio Jones or Calvin Ridley but Matt Ryan never gets his just die for delivering those balls to them.

Take for example this past game with the Eagles. Ryan three interceptions and the Falcons faithful were all over him. Yes, opportunities were missed but no one wants the bring up the defense blowing a halftime lead. No one brings up the consistent pressure he was facing all night which led to one of those picks.

Matt Ryan played far from perfect Sunday night but to see the things that have often been said by fans is downright ridiculous.

Compared to what the Falcons have had at the position in the past, Ryan has been a godsend. I don’t recall Mike Vick facing so much criticism from his own fans.

Ryan is better than the majority of the starting quarterbacks in the NFL and over the past few years, he has done all he can to put the Falcons in position to win just to be let down by an underperforming defense.

As much as it hurts to say, once Ryan is gone whether it be from injury or retirement, fans will realize how important he was to the success of this team. No one cares about the MVP he won a few years ago. No one cares that he had his best statistical season last year without a running game, a competent offensive and a defense that leaked points.

Ryan won’t play a perfect game every game and that fine. News flash: neither did Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and a slew of other Hall of Famers. The only way Ryan will receive the credit he deserves is when the Atlanta Falcons finally get to hoist the Lombardi trophy and even then there will still be doubters.

“Well, he should have two!!!”

“The defense did everything!!”