Both Tom Brady or Matt Ryan were fantastic during the 2016 regular season and while leading their team to Super Bowl 51, but who is better right now?
The two teams are set! The New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons are heading to Houston to play in Super Bowl 51. The matchup should be a good one, and brings up the question of which team has the better player at the most important position: quarterback.
It’s not a question about who is better overall; that’s an easy answer. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is arguably the best of all-time and is about to play in his seventh Super Bowl. Should he win this one, that argument about the best ever becomes pretty easy for anyone who is pro Brady.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan on the other hand has just guided his team to his first-ever Super Bowl appearance. He did so after struggling through a rough stretch where people began to question whether or not he was the right guy for the job in Atlanta. He responded by posting an MVP-worthy season as he lead the Dirty Birds to Super Bowl 51. He’s played spectacularly, but in terms of a career perspective, he is in no way on Brady’s level.
This question though is who is better right now: the 39-year-old Brady or the 31-year-old Ryan? First things first, throw the age out. Brady not only looks younger now than he did at 29, but he throws the ball with more accuracy and velocity. It’s crazy to think just a year ago the Denver Broncos were in the Super Bowl with a 39-year-old Peyton Manning, who everyone could see was on his last leg. His passes wobbled, had little velocity and he could no longer throw the deep ball. Brady has no issues with any of that.
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His season was marred by his Deflategate suspension, but after sitting out those four games he came back on fire. Brady completed 67.4 percent of his passes (his best percentage since 2007 when he had his amazing 50 touchdown season and the team went 16-0 in the regular season) for 3,554 yards. He also had an insane touchdown-to-interception ratio of 14:1 as he threw 28 touchdowns to just two picks. The team went 11-1 with him starting under center. Simply put, this season was one of the best examples of Brady’s excellence.
Ryan on the other hand was no slouch. There’s a reason “Matty Ice” heard chants of “MVP” during his team’s victory in the NFC Championship Game this past weekend. Ryan completed a career best 69.9 percent of his passes for 4,944 yards. He also was great at protecting the ball as he threw just seven interceptions with 38 touchdowns. Ryan led the Falcons to an 11-5 record this season, good enough for the second seed in the NFC.
Both had some serious help around them as well, which is obvious since they are the two teams left standing. The Pats had the NFL’s rushing touchdown leader in LeGarrette Blount. The veteran running back had 1,161 yards on the ground with an amazing 18 rushing touchdowns. The Falcons had a two-headed monster on the ground. Running back Devonta Freeman rushed for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns. Behind him was running back Tevin Coleman who added another 520 yards and eight rushing touchdowns.
Each quarterback also had a 1,000-yard receiver aiding their cause. Julio Jones went for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns on 83 receptions for Atlanta. Julian Edelman had 98 receptions for 1,106 yards and three touchdowns.
The biggest difference, though, is that Edelman isn’t Brady’s most important weapon normally. That title belongs to tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronk is a matchup nightmare and when he plays a full season he is good for double digit touchdowns. In the five years not shortened by injury, Gronkowski has gone for 10, 17, 11, 12 and 11 touchdowns. Losing him this season to a back injury looked to be the kryptonite to the Patriots. Instead, they fought on and still managed to not only win 14 games, but to finish in the top-five in scoring, total yards on offense and passing yards.
Ryan would still be a very good quarterback if he lost his top receiver. The Falcons could still win a lot of games thanks to his guidance. He wouldn’t however be able to throw 28 touchdowns to just two interceptions while leading his team to an 11-1 record.
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In the end, Tom Brady is the better quarterback of the two. That’s no knock whatsoever on Matt Ryan. The Falcons field general is a great player and well deserving of the MVP award if the voters do decide to give it to him. It’s just not logical to say that part of the reason he is favored ahead of Brady for the award is because of the four missed games due to suspension.
Brady is the best quarterback of this era, and he looks as good as ever. There’s no one that’s able to dethrone him of that title just yet.