Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who is known for his passing, also has shown moments where he can run. Even in the Falcons’ 48-25 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday, Ryan showed again he can run when called upon.
In that game, he broke the record for passing yards for a quarterback in his first 14 seasons, with 15,046 passing yards. He passed Drew Brees with this record.
Ryan also finished with 293 passing yards in the game, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
What many Falcons fans are raving about is Ryan’s running ability. You may look at the stats from Sunday’s game and wonder what running? (Ryan finished with two carries for three yards.) Instead, it was Ryan’s running ability on a two-point conversion that had fans in awe.
After Ryan completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to running back Cordarrelle Patterson, he kept the ball on the read option and dove into the end zone, putting the Buccaneers lead at 28-25 with 1:45 to go in the third quarter.
While Ryan is not a dual-threat quarterback, he has shown that he can make plays as a runner. When asked how he felt about it Wednesday, he had a simple answer.
“I mean it was two yards,” Ryan said, as he and others present erupted in laughs. “I felt good about that. I feel like I always moved better than people think. It’s not great, but it’s good enough. I feel comfortable doing those type of things.”
Those type of things is something Ryan has shown he can do from time to time. When it comes to running the football in close situations, his mind-set is again, simple.
“Just go,” Ryan said when asked about his mind-set when it’s opportunities to run. “Get what you can get. A lot of the times it’s in third-down situations and you have that internal feel of what the down and distance is. Sometimes you think you got six or seven yards, but you really have four. You just try to get every inch you can and move the chain.”
Ryan is no stranger to running. In high school at William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, he was a triple-option quarterback.
“I ran the ball a lot more in high school than I threw it,” Ryan said. “I’ve been doing that at various levels my entire life.”
Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley, who is in his fourth season, gives Ryan a lot of credit for being a running quarterback.
“The defense has to watch him,” Ridley said about Ryan’s running ability. “They’re been working with him on getting him faster, and we’re excited about it.”
Will Ryan implement more running into his game? In his career, he has rushed for 1,398 yards on 451 carries. Ryan is not too sure about running the football more in the future, but remains optimistic.
“I don’t know if it will be more,” Ryan said. “There are certain parts within the passing game with the run-pass option and zone reads. Maybe here and there.”
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