Ryan: Warriors’ NBA Finals collapse, recovery ‘inspiration’ for Falcons
With no team returning to the Super Bowl the season after losing since the Buffalo Bills in 1993, the Atlanta Falcons chances at a Super Bowl LII appearance look grim.
Out of the past 22 teams to lose the Super Bowl, 11 didn’t even reach the playoffs the next season.
Despite the odds, reigning MVP Matt Ryan doesn’t think what’s happened to past Super Bowl losers means very much for the Falcons.
The Falcons quarterback told the Talk of Fame Network radio show on Friday he thinks the Falcons can use the "Super Bowl Hangover" conversation to their advantage just like another team has recently done.
“I think every organization, every team is different and each game affects everyone differently,” Ryan said. “You talk about Super Bowl ‘hangover’ or anything like that, you look at the NBA championships. If any team had a reason for a hangover last year it was the Golden State Warriors and to see how they played this season... I think that serves as really good inspiration for us.”
Before the 28-3 jokes started after February’s fourth quarter Super Bowl collapse, the Warriors — led by then NBA MVP Steph Curry — blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors used the “3-1” jokes and their Finals collapse as fire to return to the 2017 Finals, defeat the Cavaliers 4-1 and be crowned NBA Champions.
Ryan said emulating the Warriors’ success after their collapse isn’t out of the realm of possibility for the Falcons this season.
“We know it’s going to be really hard,” Ryan said of achieving the same success in 2017. “There’s no question about it. It was really hard last year to get there. But I think part of it is embracing that, embracing that it’s going to be difficult. The grind is really, really difficult. But that’s what’s going to make it so great and that work and embracing that and really thriving on how hard it is...
“But we’ve got the right people to do it and so I think we’ll be OK. Our mindset is right, and we’ve got the right people in leadership positions to guide us in the right direction.”
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