The end of an era has come and gone in Atlanta. Everyone now has seen the news of Matt Ryan being traded to the Indianapolis Colts from the Atlanta Falcons for a 2022 third-round pick. Ryan, who has spent his whole career in Atlanta now leaves the NFC South for the AFC South.
The past two seasons have seen Atlanta move arguably their two most important players in franchise history with Julio Jones being traded to the Tennessee Titans last season. When the news first broke I took a deep pause and just realized what happened: the franchise Quarterback for the past 14 seasons will no longer be in Atlanta. Obviously, the news of the Falcons going after Quarterback Deshaun Watson led to this move happening, and we all knew that Ryan would no longer be the Quarterback of Atlanta in the coming years—it’s just still a shock knowing that it happened. I noticed A LOT of Falcon fans cheering with joy on social media that the “noodle arm” Quarterback will be gone. I, however, am not in that crowd.
Matt Ryan is the BEST Quarterback to ever play for the franchise. Yes, Michael Vick was the most electric and probably still is the most famous, but Ryan is the best. The all-time franchise leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, a four-time Pro Bowler, 2008 Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2016 Offensive Player of the Year, and 2016 MVP. No one at that position in the franchise comes close to it.
Many Falcon fans will say Matt Ryan was the reason the team was so bad anytime a loss happened. Matt Ryan was only good because he had receivers like Julio Jones, Roddy White, and one of the greatest Tight Ends in Tony Gonzales. To those fans, I say think about a time or person who you may not have liked and blamed for a lot of things, but once you didn’t have that thing or person anymore you realized that it wasn’t them to always blame after all. That is Matt Ryan.
Were there times that Ryan could’ve played better? Yes. There are a couple games that come to my mind immediately: the 2011 Wild Card game against the New York Giants, the 2012 NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. Yes, I know I know “28-3” but does Matt Ryan play defense? How many consistent defensive Pro Bowlers the Falcons have had during Ryan’s tenure? Don’t worry I’ll wait.
Ryan is in the top 10 all-time in career passing yards and touchdowns, and will have a chance to increase that even more with the Colts. Should Ryan’s sendoff could’ve been better? Of course, but what’s done is done and now you move on.
I just want to say thank you, Matt Ryan. You along with a few other franchise pieces brought the team to some type of relevancy while in Atlanta. Ryan didn’t come into an ideal situation back in 2008, but made the most of it: six playoff appearances, two NFC Championship appearances, and a Super Bowl appearance. Yes, the last few years haven’t been that great, but it was never all on you. As an Atlanta Falcon fan, I wish you nothing but the best.
