Cam Newton or Matt Ryan: Who would have been better for the Falcons

Say what you want, Matt Ryan has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league, even if the players around haven’t been playing their best other than Julio Jones. There’s also a hometown guy, who was just as good as Matt Ryan was in his prime but in a different way.

The year before Matt Ryan led the Falcons to the Super Bowl, Atlanta’s own Cam Newton took the Panthers to the Super Bowl and won his own MVP award.

It’s now time to play the bad guy and put forth this scenario, in their primes, would Cam Newton have been a better option than Matt Ryan for the Falcons? What would Newton bring to the table that Ryan can’t?

The highly coveted ability to escape the pocket and make plays with his feet.

During his MVP season, Newton rushed for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns to go along with his 3,837 yards passing and 35 touchdowns through the air. If he played for the Falcons those numbers would be different especially since he has never played with a receiver like Julio Jones.

Yes, Cam Newton with his running abilities would be a huge asset for the Falcons, but let’s face it, he doesn’t have Matt Ryan poise and decision making in the pocket.

Ryan has a better touchdown percentage while Newton has the worst interception percentage. Ryan has a better completion percentage at 65.4 while Newton is slight under 60 percent at 59.6.

Cam doesn’t have the clutch gene that Ryan has neither. While Cam only has 15 fourth-quarter comebacks, Matt Ryan ranked eighth all-time with 30.

It all boils down to preference at quarterback. If you want a mobile quarterback that can make plays on the ground and just good enough in the air to make an impact, then Cam is your guy. If you want prototypical quarterback play then Matty Ice is the guy for you.

Matt Ryan is the better leader. You have bever seen Matt storm away from the media and has always stepped up to take the blame away from his teammates. Matt is the ultimate team quarterback, while Cam is missing many of those attributes.

While the idea of the hometown guy playing for his hometown team would make for a great story, at the end of the day, Ryan is just what the Falcons ordered.