If the Atlanta Falcons had won Super Bowl LI, that likely would've put the cherry on top of Matt Ryan's Hall of Fame campaign. He'll probably still find his way to Canton one day, but that would've sealed it. Thanks for that, Kyle Shanahan and Tom Brady, because Matty Ice really deserved a Super Bowl ring.
However, he isn't mostly to blame for it, and it hasn't done any sort of irreparable damage to his legacy or reputation. He's still heralded as one of the best to ever do it, as evidenced by his incredibly generous placement in Bleacher Report's rankings of the 99 best quarterbacks in NFL history
The Bleacher Report staff ranked the former NFL MVP as the 41st best quarterback in NFL history, ahead of players like Drew Bledsoe, Rich Gannon, and Donovan McNabb. And if the result of that fateful day in February of 2017 was any different, he would be significantly higher on this list.
"If not for some poor defense and questionable play-calling in Super Bowl LI, Matt Ryan might be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. As things stand, he should still reach Canton one day."Bleacher Report staff
Matt Ryan comes in at 41st in Bleacher Report's all-time QB rankings
He would probably be in the top 20 with that ring, but top 45 isn't too bad. People are forgetting how nasty the Dirty Birds' new president of football was when he was a player. He is ninth all-time in career passing yards and threw for over 4,000 yards an an impressive 10 consecutive seasons.
It's even more impressive (and honestly kind of sad) that he was the last quarterback to lead the Falcons to legitimate postseason success, let alone the playoffs themselves. But that's a testament to just how great he is, even if I don't agree with some of the names that they had ahead of him.
Josh Allen is clearly more talented than Ryan and probably should be ahead of him, but he's basically reheating Philip Rivers' nachos with all of the early playoff exits. I also don't think Randall Cunningham or Sonny Jurgensen deserve to be ahead of him when Jurgensen played before the Super Bowl era.
Also, Fox Sports ranked the four-time Pro Bowler as the third best quarterback to never win a Super Bowl, with only Dan Marino and Rivers above him. Honestly the only retired QB you can place above him in this is Marino, as Rivers and Ryan is a serious toss-up since Rivers played three more years and is barely ahead of him from a yardage standpoint despite making an NFL comeback.
The worst part is if the Falcons won Super Bowl LI, this wouldn't even be a debate. Even so, seeing Ryan finally receive his flowers for a fantastic career is incredibly cathartic, especially since he's the man leading this franchise into a new era.