FLOWERY BRANCH – Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is a big fan of the World Series champion Braves, who made a set of moves at the trade deadline to catapult them to the title.
Unlike the Braves, the Falcons didn’t make any moves at their trade deadline, but that’s par for the course in the NFL.
You can’t re-tool a segment of a NFL team much during the season. Trades don’t happen often at the deadline because most teams are set. The blockbuster deals, like this year’s Matthew Stafford trade, happen in the offseason.
“I think it’s different,” Ryan said. “You just don’t see it as often in football. They basically rebuilt one-third of their team in the outfield. That’d be like replacing the whole offense or special teams or something like that.”
There are other areas of the Braves’ title run that the Falcons can draw from.
“The team kind of grinded through the season, finding their way and then coming together at the right time and getting hot at the right time,” Ryan said. “I think those are things that translate from baseball to football, to basketball, to whatever it is.”
The Falcons have grinded their way to a 4-4 record, with four dramatic wins and three game-winning field goals.
“It’s a team that when you watch from the outside perspective, didn’t lose any belief, didn’t lose any confidence even through the ups and the downs,” Ryan said. “I think it was like after the All-Star break, they had like 18 games in a row where it was win-loss, win-loss, win-loss. Right? Up. Down.
“So, I’m not sure of the exact number, but that’s kind of the pattern we’ve been in. So, hopefully we can get to that point where we’re pushed through that and are able to stack some wins, you know, back to back and get hot like they did.”
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