DEL.ICIO.USFalcons rookie Ryan outguns NFL’s top passer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan won his showdown with New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, who entered Sunday’s game as the league’s top passer.
Ryan led a balanced Falcons attack that rushed for 113 yards and passed for 248 yards in the 34-20 win. Brees threw 58 passes, completing 31 for 422 yards.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Matt Ryan went 16-for-23 for 248 yards and two touchdowns.
Ryan had a quarterback rating of 134, while Brees’ rating was 66.9, which was dragged down by his three interceptions.
Ryan completed 10-of-13 passes in the first half and one touchdown pass.
“He was very accurate there in the first half,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “I thought he threw some great timing routes out in the flat to our wide receivers.
“I think he made a heck of a play on a bootleg when they had a linebacker blitzing of the edge. He was able to avoid him and get the pass to Justin Peelle. I thought that was a big play.”
Ryan also tossed touchdown passes to Roddy White and Jerious Norwood. Norwood caught a simple pass in the right flat and took it up the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown.
“Jerious is such a great athlete any time that we feel we can get the ball in his hands, it has an opportunity to go for a touchdowns,” Ryan said.
Ryan’s play helped the Falcons improve to 1-2 in the division.
“It was important for us to get a win in the division,” Ryan said. “We’re excited about that and put ourselves in position to continue to do what we want to do as a team.”
Abraham down
Defensive end John Abraham went down with 1:08 left in the second quarter after getting kicked in the head.
He returned but suffered a stinger to his left shoulder with 12:38 left in the third quarter and was replaced by Kroy Biermann. He did return.
Big returns
Wide receiver Harry Douglas, in his second game as the team’s No. 1 punt returner, had a 25-yard return in the first quarter to set up the Falcons’ first touchdown.
The Saints punted the ball out of bounds on their second punt.
Norwood had a 55-yard kickoff return to start the third quarter, but the Falcons offense didn’t capitalize on the good field position and punted after a three-and-out series.
McClure streak grows
Center Todd McClure was listed as questionable for the game because of a back injury putting his consecutive game started streak in jeopardy.
He was able to play and made his 105th consecutive game and has passed Patrick Kerney and Terance Mathis for most consecutive starts. He’s currently fifth on the all-time list.
Punt placement
Punter Michael Koenen pinned the Saints back deep with the placement of his punts.
“He’s doing a good job with his directional punting,” Smith said. “That’s the reason why we have been the number one team in net punting. It has a lot to do, not with just our coverage team covering extremely well, but also the placement of his kicks have been very, very good.”
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