There’s something different about the fourth quarter of NFL games. The intensity increases, the energy is higher and the hits are harder. Everything changes.
Right?
“Not really,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “The game is the game. The fourth quarter and second half (generally) is when you have a feel for, ‘All right, we kind of understand what their game plan is, and they understand what our game plan is.’ And it’s who is going to go out and execute in those situations. But I don’t think it feels all that different.”
That perspective aligns Ryan with people who study sports statistics down to the decimal points. They generally reject the idea of “clutchness” because the numbers don’t show that certain players or certain teams perform better in tight situations and attribute close wins or losses to luck.
Yet athletes make their reputations late in close games, and that’s especially true for NFL quarterbacks. Ryan long ago earned the nickname “Matty Ice” for his coolness under pressure, and he’s adding to that resume this season. Ryan has led three fourth-quarter comebacks this season to bring his career total to 30, according to Pro Football Reference.
The Eagles led the Falcons 24-23 with 8:37 to go and lost 26-24. The Giants were up 20-10 after three quarters, and the Falcons recovered to win 24-20. The Falcons trailed 28-17 at halftime against the Cowboys and 28-25 going into the final quarter before pulling way for a 39-28 victory.
Each rally adds to Ryan’s reputation as a clutch quarterback.
“It beats the alternative, that’s for sure,” Ryan said, laughing. “You don’t want to not win in those situations. Any time you win, however you get it done, that’s what you want to be known for.”
Ryan played a key role in all three comebacks. His fourth-quarter totals this season are 22-for-29 passing for 284 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. His fourth-quarter passer rating of 129.1 is his highest of any period.
Ideally the Falcons wouldn’t have to come back to win in the fourth quarter, but they’ve proved they can do it.
“You’d rather be up 20,” Ryan said. “But that’s not the case in the NFL. The longer I’ve played the more I’ve realized games are tight. That’s just the way it is in this league. You’ve got to find ways to get it done, and I’m proud of the way guys have done that.”
It wasn’t always so in recent history for Ryan and the Falcons under former coach Mike Smith.
The Falcons famously couldn’t hold a 17-point lead in the 2013 NFC Championship game against the 49ers, a game in which they led 24-14 at halftime. The week before that, the Falcons blew a 27-14 second-half lead against the Seahawks in a divisional playoff game before Ryan rallied them to a field goal in the final 31 seconds.
The Falcons squandered late leads three times last season. They led by 10 points at the Giants late in the third quarter and surrendered 20 consecutive points, couldn’t hold a 24-23 lead with 44 seconds left against the Browns at home and squandered a 21-point halftime lead against the Lions in London.
Smith’s replacement, Dan Quinn, said the team doesn’t talk much about starting fast: “We try not to say, ‘Hey, let’s go win the first quarter.’” Instead, the Falcons have focused on finishing.
The Falcons showed their strongest finishing kick against the Giants. They still trailed 28-25 late in the third quarter and executed two 11-play scoring drives that took nearly 13 minutes combined.
“When you are in those positions and are successful it kind of breeds confidence,” Ryan said. “From that standpoint, I think that’s a really good thing.”
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