Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan believes a better working relationship with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has fueled the offense’s fast start this season.
Ryan, who completed 28 or 37 passes for a franchise-record 503 yards in the 48-33 victory over Carolina on Sunday, has the Falcons off to a surprising 3-1 start.
Ryan is ranked first in the NFL in passing touchdowns (11), completion percentage (72.1), passing yards (1,473) and passer rating (126.3).
“I think in terms of personal, we got to know each other pretty well pretty quick,” Ryan said on Wednesday. “I think until you’ve gone through a season with people and you understand what works well for me and what works well for him, all of those kinds of things, until you’ve gone through it together and had your on-field stuff, you’re good stuff, you’re bad stuff. ..that was part of last year.
“We did some good things. Some really good things. We had some success and then we had some things go not so well. I think in both of those situations you learn a lot about each other and you learn what’s best for us to have a winning, working relationship.”
Shanahan has been flexible with Ryan. He’s most notably, running more no-huddle offense, which has been a strength of Ryan’s since his rookie season.
“I think that’s what we worked hard on all this offseason,” Ryan said. “It hasn’t been hard. He’s been really flexible and has been really great to work with.”
RYAN’S 18 FRANCHISE RECORDS
• 34,230 - Most passing yards (career)
• 4,719 - Most passing yards (season, '12)
• 4,670 - Most passes attempted (career)• 3,016 - Most passes completed (career)
• 651 - Most passes attempted (season, '13)
• 503 - Most passing yards (single game, '14)
• 439 - Most passes completed (season, '13)
• 272 - Consecutive passes w/o an INT - '12
• 213 - Most passing touchdowns (career)
• 155.9 - Highest passer rating (single game, '14)
• 91.9 - Highest passer rating (career)
• 87.5 - Highest completion pct. (single gm, '14)
• 68.6 - Highest completion pct. (season, '12)
• 64.46 - Highest completion pct. (career)
• 32 - Most touchdown passes (season, '12)
• 38 - Most 300-yard games (career)
• 22 - Most consecutive completions ('12)
• 7 - Most 300-yard games (season, '12 &'13)
About the Author
