Matt Ryan should be upset with the Atlanta Falcons for wasting his career

Matt Ryan is not the problem with the Atlanta Falcons

The easiest thing to do when a team becomes mediocre is to look and judge quarterback play. That’s exactly what Falcons fans have done with Matt Ryan.

Though Ryan is by no means the same player he was half a decade ago when he was winning an MVP award and taking the Falcons to a Super Bowl berth, he also has slowed down quite as much as many fans want to believe.

Through 15 games this season, Matt Ryan has completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 4,316 yards and 24 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. While the interception total may be a little higher than most would like, it’s actually the fourth lowest interception percentage (1.9 percent) in his career.

We’re not saying that Matt Ryan is perfect or that he doesn’t have any flaws, but the game against the Chiefs this past weekend shows he’s not the sole problem for the Falcons’ miserable existence. In that game, he completed 77 percent of his passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns and the team still lost.

Do you still want to blame Matt Ryan for all of the problems infesting the Falcons?

It’s easy to jump of Matt Ryan and say that he isn’t in his prime anymore. But that’s not why the Falcons aren’t winning games.

You want two examples of what I’m talking about? Check out Drew Brees and Tom Brady.

Both of those quarterbacks (who are well older than Ryan) are no longer in their primes and their teams are still going to the postseason. Brady and the Bucs are considered one of the dark horse contenders for a Super Bowl. That’s a Buccaneers team that just a year ago was picking ahead of the Falcons in the NFL Draft.

By the way, through 15 games: Neither Brady nor Brees have thrown for more passing yards than Ryan. 

But, yet, both will be playing in the postseason while the Falcons and Ryan sit at home. If you put Matt Ryan on the Buccaneers or the Saints, he is a playoff quarterback. It’s really that simple.

You can continue to blame the QB all you want- and yes, he has made mistakes- but the truth is that the Falcons’ blunders have begun at the very top and trickled their way all around Matt Ryan.

While many continue to point the finger at him, the reality is that Ryan should be upset with the Falcons for wasting his career by not building a team around him equipped to truly compete.