You want to know what Jack’d me off after this week’s round of playoff football madness? The fact that all year long everyone stomped all over Matt Ryan’s nuts, calling him a playoff choker.
This is a guy who has been extremely clutch in regular season games. Granted, regular season and playoffs are two completely different animals, but what it demonstrates is that he can be clutch. You know what the big problem is? He has only played three playoff games, and do we really need to recap what happened in them? Lost to New York Giants who became Super Bowl Champions. Lost to Green Bay Packers who became Super Bowl Champions. Lost to Arizona Cardinals, who were a single drive away from being Super Bowl Champions! So he is 0-3, but anyone could be 0-3 when playing teams at this level and on an obvious hot streak.
This weekend it looked like history was set to repeat itself as the Atlanta Falcons were set to play against one of the league’s hottest teams – the Seattle Seahawks. After a great beginning and middle game, they had some problem with the endgame, squandering their lead to the ‘hawks. But with a few dozen seconds left, Matt Ryan, Mr. “Can’t win a playoff game”, threw a couple long passes to set up one of the game’s automatics – Matt Bryant’s foot. The FG was good, and you know the rest.
Let me tell you haters some stats. Allow me to randomly select a QB (random button pressed)… computer chooses… “PEYTON MANNING”. Okay, seems like a tough quarterback for which to compare Ryan’s stats, but let’s give ‘er. What’s this here? It appears Peyton Manning also went 0-3 in his first 3 playoff games. His overall playoff record to this date is 9-11 which includes a 4-0 Super Bowl run (If you do the math, without that one run he would be 5-11). This is a guy that has accomplished pretty much everything a QB can accomplish, and Matt Ryan has virtually the same start as he had.
I guess the point of it all is – stop jumping on Matt Ryan! Give him some time. He is a great quarterback and he will succeed!
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