Did the Falcons make a mistake with Ryan.

[Wurider05]

I told you all about Matt Ryan. If it comes down to him having to win a game for us with his decision making and arm we lose. He has been propped up by the running game. All the credit for our success is contributed to Matt Ryan. He is just an average quarterback that can't throw the deep ball. He appears to be a nice guy who is respectable but he is not the superstar that people make him out to be. Even his stats don't support this.

[EazyRoc]

I told you all about Matt Ryan. If it comes down to him having to win a game for us with his decision making and arm we lose. He has been propped up by the running game. All the credit for our success is contributed to Matt Ryan. He is just an average quarterback that can't throw the deep ball. He appears to be a nice guy who is respectable but he is not the superstar that people make him out to be. Even his stats don't support this.

He definitely isn't average. What I don't like about our offense is that we lack playmates. What I mean by that is we don't have anybody who's gonna get the ball in their hands and make a big play. Our team played to the level of talent we have and overachieved in a few games. Ultimately our talent level got exposed. We need a real scatback (norwood is too fragile) and a real deepthreat at receiver. We still need to take a stab at Bailey or asougmha at corner too. We need more size on our lines. Most importantly we need a new OC.

[AHF]

He definitely isn't average. What I don't like about our offense is that we lack playmates. What I mean by that is we don't have anybody who's gonna get the ball in their hands and make a big play. Our team played to the level of talent we have and overachieved in a few games. Ultimately our talent level got exposed. We need a real scatback (norwood is too fragile) and a real deepthreat at receiver. We still need to take a stab at Bailey or asougmha at corner too. We need more size on our lines. Most importantly we need a new OC.

TMQ came down on Mularkey as well:

That can't be the offense about to run an extra play! With no timeouts, the play must go either to the sideline or to the end zone, anything else ends the half. Green Bay knows this! Calling cadence, Matt Ryan looked up and saw two Green Bay safeties standing on the goal line -- meaning no hope of throwing into the end zone. He saw both Green Bay cornerbacks on the outside shoulders of their receivers, meaning no hope of throwing to the sideline. Because the Falcons had no timeouts, he couldn't cancel the play and wave for the kicking team. Because it was a 52-yarder from the current spot, Ryan couldn't take a delay-of-game penalty, which would've made the kick a 57-yarder. If he had this play to do over, surely Ryan would have snapped and thrown the ball away, stopping the clock to allow a 52-yard try. He didn't think of that and instead ran the play the coaches radioed in, a quick out. Undrafted corner Tramon Williams -- who made the 2010 TMQ All-Unwanted All-Pros -- knew what was coming, cut in front of the receiver and returned the interception 70 yards for a touchdown with no time showing. Down 28-14 at the half, Atlanta was broken.

Green Bay knew exactly where the pass would go! The reason corners don't cut in front of outs all the time is that they must defend the many other patterns the receiver might run. In this case, Williams didn't have to honor any other pattern: he was certain the play would be an out. What a botched call by Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey! Perhaps Mularkey didn't have his head in the game because he had spent part of the Falcons' bye week interviewing for the Cleveland Browns' head coaching vacancy. The Falcons didn't show any formation or playcalling variation on offense, either. Mularkey was too busy, perhaps, with his résumé to compose an original game plan.

Atlanta had the No. 1 NFC seed largely on the strength of protecting the football and smart coaching; the last play of the first half was among the worst coaching errors TMQ has seen. And it wasn't Atlanta's only coaching error. Down 35-14, Atlanta defensive coordinator Brian vanGorder panicked and started calling lots of blitzes, which only led to big plays for the Packers. Scoring to pull within 42-20 at the start of the fourth quarter, why didn't the Falcons -- desperate for points -- go for two? Maybe because their coaches had quit on the game. The Falcons have twice attained the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and both times lost their playoff opener at home.

Edited January 18, 2011 by AHF

[jhay610]

Ryan did everything asked of him in his third year and made the pro bowl. You have to remember that there is a steep development curve for QBs -- look back at Peyton and Drew Brees' early careers for reference.

He doesn't throw the deep ball that often because schematically the Falcons don't take that many shots down the field, nor do they have the speed threats at WR to do so on a consistent basis. The entire philosophy of Mularky's offense is to grind out the game and get into 2nd and 3rd and manageable. This served the Falcons well over the course of the year and enabled them to hide a defense that still has a ways to go to get to Super Bowl caliber.

Ryan had an excellent year and I will continue to expect great things in the future. Certainly there are still some pieces that are needed on both sides of the ball but for the long haul, on a structural level, the Falcons have to be considered well-positioned to be relevant in the league for years to come.

[CBAreject]

I told you all about Matt Ryan. If it comes down to him having to win a game for us with his decision making and arm we lose. He has been propped up by the running game. All the credit for our success is contributed to Matt Ryan. He is just an average quarterback that can't throw the deep ball. He appears to be a nice guy who is respectable but he is not the superstar that people make him out to be. Even his stats don't support this.

This is the most pathetic "told you so" I've ever read in a sports forum, and that is saying something. Matt Ryan has spent all year proving you wrong, and because he loses a playoff game to the NFC champion Packers, you come with "told you so"? Did Matt Ryan make our marginal defense unable to ever stop the Packers? And this bit about "when it comes down to him having to win a game for us with his decision making and arm we lose" is LAUGHABLE. Did you watch the last second wins against the Packers, Saints, Ravens, Bucs? There were others, but I think I can stop there. You are incredibly laughable sir. You obviously don't watch football. Your only purpose in posting this is to protect your sickly wounded pride. You were wrong about Ryan. No, he isn't Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, and Aaron Rogers is currently better, but he's a top-8 QB, and the numbers DO support this, and as such, he is worthy of the pick we used on him. Furthermore, I'm not sure who is saying Matt Ryan is a superstar. Most of the expert reports put him around #7-8 with Flacco just behind him in the QB rankings. Is that superstar? I think people acknowledge that he's a very good QB with a bevy of comeback wins to his credit (yes, earned with his decision-making and arm, which you patently ignore to support your weak, weak case). He's won as many games in his first 3 seasons as any QB ever, and he's now earned 2 pro-bowl appearances. He made the historically comical Falcons a winner for 3 consecutive seasons, a feat even your precious Mike Vick couldn't achieve. He took a good but not great team to a 13-3 record, and they got exposed by a better team in the playoffs. Big whoop. Stop wasting our time, or your weak arguments will continue to get pwn3d.

Edited January 24, 2011 by CBAreject

[coachx]

Atlanta's defense did not force Green Bay to punt one time the entire game. I don't think a team has a won a playoff game in the history of the NFL that didn't force the other team to punt the ball at least once.

You forgot to mention that.....your hate of Matt Ryan blinded you from the truth.

[lethalweapon3]

I doubt this Wiki edit somebody did will last long, but LOL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Ryan

Matthew Thomas "Matt" Ryan (born May 17, 1985) is a god. He also is the starting American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of theNational Football League. He was drafted in the first round as the third overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Boston College.

~lw3

[AHF]

My top desire is the same as every year - upgrade the trenches. I don't think we will be elite until we have a stud defensive line.

[Swatguy]

He is a step down from Vick, isn't he?

The Falcons need a deep threat and a back that can hit the corners. But Ryan is not what you thought he was.

[AHF]

He is a step down from Vick, isn't he?

The Falcons need a deep threat and a back that can hit the corners. But Ryan is not what you thought he was.

Vick hasn't done much in the playoffs since the Green Bay days and goes from dominant to frustrating on the field when he is healthy. We'll see where he is next season.

Ryan is much better than I though he was coming out of Boston College. It has been a pleasant surprise watching him play. He is not going to be a top 3 QB, but he is a very steady performer who is a huge asset to the franchise. He also has been very healthy like the great QBs.