Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco: NFL Birds Of A Different Feather?

Face it. When it comes to the National Football League, we love to talk about quarterbacks.

From “who’s the greatest?” to “he’s just a game manager to “all he does is win,” the man behind center garners plenty of attention.

We also love to discuss the great draft classes when it comes to the position. There’s the Pro Football Hall of Fame group from 1983 of John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. In more modern times, it’s the Class of 2004 with Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Perhaps one day it will be the Class of 2012 with Andrew Luck, a healthy Robert Griffin III and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson.

Six years ago, there was a pair of young signal-callers selected in the first round of the NFL draft. The Atlanta Falcons made Boston College’s Matt Ryan the third overall selection and 15 picks later, the Baltimore Ravens opted for Delaware’s Joe Flacco.

Both have enjoyed their share of success. Ryan owns a 62-38 regular-season record as a starter, throwing just under twice as many touchdown passes (165) as interceptions (84) in those 100 contests. He guided Atlanta to five straight winning seasons from 2008-12 and four playoff berths, wrapping up the NFC’s No. 1 seed in both 2010 and 2012. Unfortunately, he and the Falcons’ lack of success in the postseason have haunted the talented signal-caller.

Meanwhile, Flacco has not missed a start for Baltimore since arriving in 2008. He owns a 66-36 win-loss record in the regular-season and while his career touchdown pass (133) to interception numbers (81) aren’t as impressive as Ryan’s,  he does have the one thing that “Matty Ice” has yet to capture.

Flacco led the Ravens to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons and capped by a four-game postseason run in 2012 in which he threw 11 touchdown passes and zero interceptions, led his franchise to a title in Super Bowl XLVII.

After great starts, both quarterbacks and their teams fell upon hard times in 2013 and the symmetry was simply stunning. Ryan was sacked a career-high 44 times and threw 17 interceptions, the most-ever by the Falcons’ talented signal-caller. Flacco was sacked a career-high 48 times and threw 22 interceptions, the most-ever by the Ravens’ field general.

Atlanta went from a 13-3 mark in 2012 to 4-12 a year ago. On the other hand, the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens fell to 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the first time with Flacco and head coach John Harbaugh.

This Sunday at Baltimore, Ryan and Flacco will clash for just the second time in their careers. Both quarterbacks have thrown a dozen touchdown passes in six games this season. Both teams have scored exactly 164 points in six games. But those points and the fact that both players enjoyed their time when they faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season are about the only thing these draft classmates have in common these days.

While these days the Ravens appear to be on the upswing once again, owners of a 4-2 record, the Falcons dropped their third straight game on Sunday—all by 10 or more points—and fell to 2-4. It lowered Ryan and company’s record to a disappointing 6-16 record in their last 22 contests.

The problems that plagued Mike Smith’s team last season (beside injuries) appear to be back once again—a lack of balance on offense and a defensive unit that continues to disappoint. Only the aforementioned Buccaneers have allowed more total yards than coordinator Mike Nolan’s group, which also ranks 28th in the league against the run.

The Falcons have improved on their ability to run the football. It was hard to be worse than they were last season when they totaled the fewest running plays and rushing yards in the league. And that lack of balance as well as a porous defense means more is once again falling on not only Ryan’s arm but his shoulders as well. An injury-riddled offensive line doesn’t help as well.

On the other hand, Flacco has seen the rebirth of the ground game in Baltimore. In 2013, the Ravens rushed for a mere 1,328 yards, the lowest total in the brief history of the franchise. Both Philadelphia’s LeSean McCoy and Chicago’s Matt Forte outgained Harbaugh’s club on the ground last season.

In six games this year, Baltimore has already totaled 797 yards rushing, a nifty 132.8 yards per game average. These days, Harbaugh benefits from the three-headed attack of running backs Justin Forsett, rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro (a fourth-round selection from Coastal Carolina) and third-year pro Bernard Pierce.

We are not sure what kind of game we are looking at on Sunday. Given the way the Falcons’ defense has played, especially on the road, Smith’s club could be in for a very long afternoon in Baltimore. But before we get to the weekend, you will likely hear discussion over the next few days of just who is the better quarterback.

While Ryan (who has missed only two games in his seven-year career) has the better regular-season statistics in terms of touchdown passes, Flacco has been dependable and owns a title with his teammates. While Ryan has arguably been surrounded with better offensive talent, Flacco has arguably been a member of better teams.

So we are here to ask the question. Who would you prefer to have as your starting quarterback? There’s probably no wrong answer here as both have earned their share of accolades. And some will certainly base their answer on what happens this Sunday at Baltimore.

Of course, this could make for an even juicier discussion if one day the talented Ryan finally comes away with his own NFL championship.

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