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Sunday, October 5, 2008
Ryan calmly leading the charge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Green Bay, Wis. — During warm-ups before his first game in the most storied stadium in NFL history, Matt Ryan reacted with something less than a meltdown.
“This is pretty cool,” he said to his coach.
Now, most of us can’t relate to what a young starting quarterback must be thinking the first time he walks into Lambeau Field. But if it’s similar to a young starting pitcher walking to the mound at Yankee Stadium or a young starting soprano walking to center stage at The Met, then most would not expect what happened Sunday.
Calm. Followed by a 37-yard pass to Roddy White on the first play of the game.
Calm. Followed by the Falcons’ first touchdown in a road game this season.
Calm. Followed by three scores in the team’s first four possessions.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Todd McClure, the veteran center. “His composure in the huddle is amazing.
“There are some times like today when I tried to ask him during a TV timeout, ‘What’s the next play?’ and he just snapped, ‘Just wait! Hold on a second!’ So we had to rag him about that a little bit. But he takes charge. That’s how you have to be as a quarterback.”
Five games into the season, the Falcons are in a place few expected them to be: not last. They are 3-2 and getting better.
We have learned it’s dangerous to assume too much about the future with this franchise. Particularly at quarterback. But the manner in which Ryan jump-started the Falcons to a 27-24 upset over Green Bay in his fifth NFL game certainly would lead most to view the future with, well, calm.
In the first half, when the Falcons took a 17-7 lead, Ryan completed 13-of-18 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Here is a breakdown of the five incompletions: two drops; one spike to stop the clock; one wise flip out of bounds as he scrambled to avoid a certain sack and lost yardage; one short toss to Roddy White that was broken up by a Packers’ defender.
No misfires.
He wasn’t perfect Sunday. Early in the fourth quarter, after his 17-yard run and later a personal foul on the Packers helped set up the Falcons at the Green Bay 12, Ryan had tight end Ben Hartstock ridiculously open in the end zone, only to underthrow him and have the pass intercepted. (Green Bay then drove to a tying score.)
But the way he reacted was rare for a rookie quarterback.
“Nothing,” McClure said. “I didn’t hear him say anything.”
“He just came over to the sideline and looked at me,” coach Mike Smith said. “I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get an opportunity to get another one.’ And we did that.”
The Falcons drove to a field goal and a touchdown on their next two possessions. Ryan didn’t have to do a lot: the field goal was mostly set up by a long kickoff return by Jerious Norwood; the touchdown that made it 27-17 followed an interception at the Packers’ 19.
But he functioned. He ran the team. Players react to their quarterback.
“Obviously I was a little frustrated [after the interception],” Ryan said. “I guess that’s part of the learning curve.”
Small curve.
He completed his first six passes of the game. He ran a perfect bootleg pass on fourth-and-goal from the one on the opening possession, hitting tight end Justin Peelle in the end zone. He perfectly ran a no-huddle offense for four plays in the second quarter against the befuddled Packers’ defense, finishing with a 22-yard touchdown to Roddy White.
There was significant debate following the draft about whether the Falcons made the right decision to select Ryan over LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. Time ultimately will provide the answer. But Ryan showed something special in a stadium that has seen its share of greatness.
Asked later about Lambeau, he said, “It has an aura about it. The coolest thing for me was when you’re able to walk down that tunnel, and all of a sudden you’re out there. It’s Lambeau Field.”
The awe ended shortly thereafter.
• More coverage: Matt Ryan page
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