Matt Ryan still has ice in his veins

Matt Ryan led the Atlanta Falcons on a game-winning drive for the 38th time in his career. Ryan is now tied with Drew Brees at 38 since 2008, best in the league. 29 of which are fourth-quarter comebacks.

There is a reason why fans and experts still refer to Matt Ryan as “Matty Ice”. Ryan’s nickname started while in High School due to his ability to remain cool and calm when it mattered the most.

For many Falcons fans, Matt Ryan became “Matty Ice” during his rookie season in 2008 against the Chicago Bears at home. The Bears scored a touchdown in the final moments to take the lead 20-19. This gave Ryan and the Falcons:06 left in the game down by one.

Matt Ryan stood calm and firm and delivered a perfect deep ball strike to Michael Jenkins and put the Falcons into field goal territory.

Jason Elam kicked the game-winning field goal from 48 yards.

That tune still rings true as twice this season Ryan comes from behind in the fourth and led the game-winning drive to victory. Ryan is even credited for audibling at the line of scrimmage and called the play that Julio Jones took to the house against Philadelphia.

The 4-9 Atlanta Falcons saw themselves down by five on the road against one of the league’s best teams. With 1:42 left on the clock and 70 yards to go, Matt Ryan went five for nine for 61 yards and added on a nine-yard scramble to take the lead with:02 left.

The stat of going five for nine may not seem that flashy, but Ryan had to throw the ball away due to pressure, had a ball batted at the line, one bad throw to Austin Hooper in the endzone, and then another throw to Hooper that could be debated on if it was a catch or not.

Ryan hit Julio on a five-yard route, originally called down at the one, but after review, it was declared that the ball broke the plane and the Falcons win.

Flashy or not, Ryan delivered once again when it matters the most and turned a pointless game into one of the most exciting finishes of the year.

Since the start of 2016, Matt Ryan has led eight game-winning drives, six of the eight were fourth-quarter comebacks.

Having the most game-winning drives adds on to Matt Ryan’s list of accolades that he may hope to achieve once his career is said and done. There is still plenty of time for Matt Ryan to catch up to Peyton Manning‘s 54 game-winning drives, showing that Matt Ryan is truly the comeback king.

If Drew Brees can do eight game-winning drives in 2018, then fans should always have confidence that Matt Ryan, even at age 34 now, has the capabilities to get the job done.

Stop using the Super Bowl against this narrative

It’s often that the Super Bowl loss is brought up in regards to Matt Ryan’s ability to remain clutch. However, Ryan got the Atlanta Falcons within field goal range twice but poor play calling and missed blocks were the main cause.

Matt Ryan was about to deliver the game-winning strike to Aldrick Robinson when Devonta Freeman simply laid down in football’s biggest stage at the worst moment.

Also, don’t forget the defense allowed for 31 straight points. 25 of which were in the final 17 minutes. You cannot put that blame on Matt Ryan.