Matt Ryan on playing hard for Dan Quinn, Falcons’ second-half turnaround
By John Buhler
Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons are playing hard for Dan Quinn after falling into a 1-7 hole before the bye. What’s changed and how is this happening?
When you’re one of only 10 quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for at least 50,000, you find out playing at a high level consistently is the key to success. Matt Ryan and the 2019 Atlanta Falcons are a team of two halves. Atlanta went a miserable 1-7 before their annual bye, but have since gone 4-2 and seem to have things back on track heading into the final two weeks of the season.
Ryan spoke with FanSided‘s Mark Carman on behalf of the 2019-20 Gatorade National Player of the Year. On Tuesday morning, Ryan presented Marietta (GA) Blue Devils tight end Arik Gilbert with the honor in surprising fashion. Gilbert grew up cheering on star players on the Falcons and will be heading to Baton Rouge to play his college football for Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers.
“Well, I thought it was awesome to be a small part of it, to surprise him and his family this morning,” said Ryan. “It’s an incredible honor for him, certainly well-deserved…Everybody had such good things to say about him, so I’m certainly excited for him and will be watching him at LSU. I wouldn’t mind throwing to him in a few years when he’s done there…”
Ryan, who plans to play for as long as he can, has been a model of consistency in the Falcons offense since arriving in Flowery Branch back in 2008 as the No. 3 overall pick out of Boston College. He doesn’t envision playing for another team in his illustrious NFL career. The four-time Pro Bowler and 2016 NFL MVP has already put together a résumé that will get him to Canton.
When asked by Carman about what’s changed for the Falcons in the second half, Ryan would offer this, “We’ve been much more consistent in the second half of the season and that’s been the difference. You know, when we play the way we’re capable of, we’re a good football team.”
It seems that the Falcons still believe in themselves as a football team. More importantly, you can tell from Carman’s conversation with Ryan that Atlanta is still playing very, very hard for head coach Dan Quinn, who has been on the hot seat all year. Until recently, it was a foregone conclusion that he was getting the ax at the end of the year. But after last week, things change.
“I think more so than anything, guys love Dan and appreciate how he is as a head coach, how good he is to us as players,” said Ryan. “We know how much he cares and I think you see that there’s no let down in any of our guys. We play hard and we’re ready to go each week…I think we all love him and all play really hard for him…He’s got the respect of our locker room, for sure.”
This really comes down to how Falcons owner Arthur Blank feels about the job Quinn has done in recent years. Atlanta has a sub-.500 record since losing Super Bowl LI to the New England Patriots in heart-breaking fashion, but Ryan believes that Blank is the best owner you could ever ask for.
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As Ryan climbs up the NFL record books, the goal for him is to win a Super Bowl. While guys like him, Dan Marino and Philip Rivers don’t have one, Ryan doesn’t feel it hurts Marino’s Pro Football Hall of Fame legacy. “I don’t think it stains his career at all, individually. But as a competitor, all of us want to finish winning a championship and that’s certainly my motivation moving forward.
Matt Ryan spoke to FanSided on behalf of the 2019-20 Gatorade National Player of the Year.