3 Reasons Matt Ryan should be headed to the Hall-of-Fame

2. Matt Ryan turned around a franchise that simply put couldn’t do anything right

Watching the Atlanta Falcons before Matt Ryan came to Atlanta was different, forget the last two years and look at what Ryan has done. He stepped into a franchise that was completely dysfunctional continually elevated a team that often did very little to support him.

Yes, Ryan had the benefit of Julio Jones, Roddy White, and an aging Tony Gonzalez but his contributors were always different the one thing that never changed was Ryan. It didn’t matter how terrible of a roster Atlanta put around him Ryan got the most out of it and continually pushed his team into contention.

Ryan wasn’t perfect in the playoffs but he had great moments including blowout wins over Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson. He carried Atlanta teams to the playoffs and into contention even when they had no business being there.  This past season was perhaps his toughest when you consider he led the league in quarterback hits taken and was given few weapons behind this paper mache offensive line.

Still, Ryan kept the Falcons in wildcard contention late into the season doing everything he could against far superior rosters. Outside of blowout losses to the Cowboys and Patriots Ryan did everything you could have asked with the least amount of help he has had in his career.

The point here is simple, from day one Ryan was put with a team that rarely manages to get anything right. From the front office down to the final man on the roster, this team’s history is painful.

Matt Ryan came in and changed the culture and changed the expectations of a team that had long been the doormat of the NFC.  Ryan deserves immense credit for that as well as being the perfect face of the Atlanta franchise setting the tone as a leader with how he carried himself on and off the field.