Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who passed for 450 yards in Sunday’s 38-25 loss to Seattle, moved passed Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway into ninth place on the NFL’s all-time passing yards list.
With his 291st passing yard, Ryan surpassed Elway for the ninth-most passing yards. Ryan has 51,636 career passing yards and is now behind Ben Roethlisberger (56,545). Elway, who won two Super Bowl titles and is currently the general manager of the Denver Broncos, passed for 51,475 yards over his storied career (1983-1998).
The Seattle game also marked Ryan’s seventh-career season opener with at least 300 passing yards, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (six), as well as Jay Cutler, Tony Romo and Matthew Stafford for the second-most games with at least 300 passing yards in Week 1 NFL history.
Ryan got most of the yards after the Falcons went down 28-12 and were trying to rally against soft Seattle zones. He completed 37 of 54 passes with two touchdowns and one interception. He finished with a passer rating of 98.5.
Ryan’s passed for a career-high 503 yards in a 48-33 win over Carolina on Oct. 2, 2016.
Jones hit mark: Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, who played in his 127th game, surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison (131 games) as the second-fastest player to reach 800 career receptions in NFL history.
Jones had nine catches for 157 yards in the loss to Seattle. He now has 806 receptions for 12,282 yards.
It was Jones' 16th game with 150 yards or more receiving, which moved Jones past Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Maynard (15) and Calvin Johnson (15) for the fourth-most such games in NFL history.
Only Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (30), Lance Alworth (17) and Terrell Owens (17) have more 150-plus games.
Pass happy. Jones was joined in the 100-yards receiving mark by Calvin Ridley (130) and Russell Gage (114).
Gurley TD run. Gurley, who played in his 74th game, tied Pro Football Hall of Famer Lenny Moore (71), as well as Chuck Foreman (71) for the fourth-most total touchdowns through a player’s first 75 career games.
McKinley played well: Falcons defensive end Takk McKinley had a sack and six quarterback hits, a new career-high, and one pass defense.
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