It was just two weeks ago, but for Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan it might as well have been the Medieval period.
The Saints flustered Ryan for key portions of the game during their last meeting on Dec. 7. Ryan, after throwing three interceptions on consecutive possessions, pulled it together in time to lead a game-winning field goal drive for a 20-17 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“You have to flush those out of your system right after they happen,” Ryan said on Wednesday before the Sunday rematch. “That’s the nature of this league. You’re going to have weeks that are tougher than others.”
Ryan completed 15 of 27 passes for 221 yards and one touchdown. He had a passer rating of 55.2, the 10th lowest of his 156 regular-season games. The 15 completions were a season low.
“But at the end of the day, the win is what is most important,” Ryan said. “I was able to move past that pretty quickly.”
With two regular-season games to go, Ryan needs to pass for 610 years to post his seventh consecutive 4,000 yard passing season.
An item lost in that first game against the Saints this season was that Ryan directed the Falcons’ longest scoring drive of the season, a 15-play, 90-yard drive that took 8 minutes, 27 seconds off the clock in the second quarter.
Ryan is expecting the Saints to retain much of their game plan.
“Obviously, they did some good things in that game,” Ryan said. “I’d would expect to see some of those same things, but we might see a new wrinkle or two or some change-ups. We’ve got to be prepared for those things as well.”
The Falcons can clinch a playoff berth with a victory over the Saints.
“Division games, always come down to who can go out and execute their plan the best,” Ryan said. “Who makes the plays when they present themselves. That has to be a big point of emphasis this week when we get our chances to hit our plays, we have got to make them.”
By having a game on Monday night last week, Ryan was able to peek ahead and watch the Saints, who played the New York Jets on Sunday.
“You watch and you see what they did against the Jets,” Ryan said. “They did a nice job there. We’ll go back and review our game from a couple of weeks ago and we’ll go further back.”
The Falcons don’t expect the Saints to change much. The closeness between the games dictates that much won’t be different.
“Typically, this time of year you have plenty of film to watch,” Ryan said. “We’ll stick to our normal routine, but that includes evaluating that first game that we played against them. We’ll check out what we did well, what we didn’t do well and also how they played us.”
Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones have not been connecting lately. Over the past three games, Ryan has targeted Jones 25 times. He’s caught just 10 of those passes for 176 yards and no touchdowns.
“It happens from time to time, where we just haven’t hit as many as we need to, but we will,” Ryan said. “I certainly expect us to and I expect us to go out there and play well.”
Ryan knows that the Mercedes-Benz Superdome will be loud. Both teams are still in contention for the NFC South title.
To get ready the Falcons have been playing extra loud music while working in their indoor facility. Also, Ryan whispers the play calls in the huddle.
“I’ve been doing that since college,” Ryan said. “We didn’t have crowd noise when I was in college so you had to whisper so guys could hear your cadence.
“There are times during the walk-through where I just whisper to get everybody used to not being able to hear all that well. It’s just something that I’ve done for a long time.”
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