Matt Ryan and Julio Jones can move past Hall of Famers in Week 1

Both Matt Ryan and Julio Jones will move up the career yard ladder this week against the Seahawks.

The Atlanta Falcons have been blessed to have record-setting players like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones at multiple positions for the majority of their careers. Sure, having a Hall of Fame player like Tony Gonzalez was great but he was at the end of his career when he got here.

Falcons’ fans have gotten to watch every single play that both Ryan and Jones have taken, up close and personal. This is something that fans can go without their entire lives and never witness.

As we move closer to kicking off week one against the Seattle Seahawks, both Matt Ryan and Julio Jones have a chance to set the tone of the season with great performances.

All-time career passing yards

Matt Ryan currently has 51,186 passing yards and is 289 yards away from tying Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway for ninth all-time on the career passing yards list.

In 2019, Matt Ryan started 15 games for the Falcons and 11 of those games he threw for at least 300 or more yards. Over the last two seasons, Matt Ryan has thrown for at least 290 yards in 20 of his 35 starts.

Matt has faced the Seahawks five times in his career. He has thrown for 1,167 yards, 10 touchdowns, and just two interceptions in those five games.

Looking back over his career, he has thrown at least 290 yards in eight of his last nine season-opening games. The only game he failed to reach 290 yards was in 2018 when he threw for 251 in a six-point loss to the Eagles.

All-time career receiving yards

Julio Jones currently has 12,125 career receiving yards and sits in 25th place all-time. However, he is just 21 yards away from tying Charlie Joiner for 24th all-time and 162 yards away from tying Jimmy Smith for 23rd place all-time.

While Julio may have to wait until week two in order to pass Smith, he will undoubtedly pass Joiner by the end of the first quarter Sunday afternoon.

If Julio can notch his seventh straight season with at least 1,300 yards receiving in 2020, he will move from 25th place to 16th place and pass Torry Holt, Andre Reed, and Steve Largent along the way.

Julio has faced the Seahawks four times in his career and averaged more than 120 yards per game against their defense. Will question in the air about their secondary heading into 2020, Jones could set the tone for an incredible season with a big performance.

Currently, the best week one performance of his career came in 2018 against the Eagles when he 10 catches for 169 yards, but no touchdowns. Twice in his career, 2012 and 2015, Julio had two touchdown receptions in game one.

If Matt Ryan can find Julio early and often Sunday against the Seahawks both will have an opportunity to serve notice the entire NFC that Atlanta is back and will be a team to watch throughout the season.