Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan seemed to back away from a story that said Kyle Shanahan’s play calls in the Super Bowl were coming in too late and was effusive in his praise of former offensive coordinator on Sunday.
Ryan contended that the headlines on recent articles critical of Shanahan’s play calling in the Super Bowl were “misleading.”
“I think sometimes the headlines of articles can be misleading,” Ryan said on Sunday. “In that situation it was just a reference to how we operated all year. It wasn’t coming it too late or anything, that’s just the way it came in. I thought Kyle did a great job for us last year.”
"Matt Ryan explains exactly what happened in the Falcons' Super Bowl collapse," was the headline on Pete Prisco's article for CBSSports.com.
The headline in a blog by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mark Bradley read: "Matt Ryan: Kyle Shanahan's Super Bowl calls were too slow."
Ryan was quoted in the article as saying: “Kyle’s play calls — he would take time to get stuff in. As I was getting it, you’re looking at the clock and you’re talking 16 seconds before it cuts out. You don’t have a lot of time to say, ‘There’s 16 seconds, no, no, no, we’re not going to do that. Hey, guys, we’re going to line up and run this.’ You’re talking about breaking the huddle at seven seconds if you do something along the lines.
“With the way Kyle’s system was set up, he took more time to call plays and we shift and motion a lot more than we did with (former coordinator Dirk Koetter). You couldn’t get out of stuff like that. We talk about being the most aggressive team in football. And I’m all for it. But there’s also winning time. You’re not being aggressive not running it there.”
Ryan seemed to back away from those comments.
“I think everybody is reading a little too much into it,” Ryan said. “It is what it is. But we’ve moved on. We’re on to this year. We are focused on trying to become the best football team that this team can be.”
Shanahan wasn’t pleased with Ryan’s shot – real or perceived – at his play calling. He pointed out to San Francisco reporters on Thursday that the Falcons never had a delay of game penalty in his two seasons as coordinator.
"Any play-caller that you talk to that's usually one of the most important things and something I pride myself on a lot, is how quick can you get a play call into a quarterback," Shanahan said.
"And the quicker you do the more comfortable it is, not just for him but the entire offense. They're not panicked. They're being able to move to the line. And with me as a coordinator personally, I try almost every situation to get it in as fast as possible. And I can be honest, there's sometimes I do better than others. There are sometimes I don't do it as good. There's sometimes I do it real good."
Ryan was aware that they weren’t any delay of calls. In the past, Ryan has said that its difficult to audible from the complex West Coast system play-calls, once they call is received.
“Exactly, we didn’t have any delay of games at all,” Ryan said. “This wasn’t a critical take on Kyle at all. This was just the way we operated in the past. Kyle did a great job for us for two years. He did a great job of calling plays for us. So, it wasn’t a critique on him, it was just the way we operated.”
Ryan, the league’s most valuable player last season, arguably had his worst and best seasons under Shanahan.
In 2015, he had 21-to-16 touchdowns-to-interception ratio while adjusting to Shanahan’s scheme and the team finished 8-8.
Photos: Day 1 of training camp | Day 2
With a year under his belt in Shanahan’s system, Ryan was nearly flawless in 2016 and guided the franchise to its second Super Bowl appearance since starting play in 1966.
Ryan was absolutely dynamic as he threw touchdown passes to 13 receivers.
With some pinpoint accuracy, Ryan led the league’s top-scoring offense, setting franchise records in passing yards (4,944) and touchdowns (38). He started all 16 games and completed 373 of 534 passes (69.9 completion percentage; third in the NFL), with only seven interceptions and a 117.1 passer rating.
Shanahan’s play-calling has been widely criticized, but not form anyone within the team. That’s why Ryan’s comments were such a news item.
Franchise first: Ryan named NFL MVP in 2016
The Falcons, the defending NFC champs, started practice on Thursday. Ryan hadn’t spoke to the media until Sunday.
He feels the team is off to a good start in training camp.
“I think it’s been good, obviously we are four days into it being on the field,” Ryan said. “I think the effort has been really good at practice. We have a long way to go and a lot of work to do.
“(There’s) a lot of hard work in front of us. The start has been been great. We’ve gotten effort form our guys. We certainly have had a nice break with the weather, too. It’s been beautiful out here.”
