Atlanta Falcons: Father Time waits for nobody, Matt Ryan included

Matt Ryan had his worst game of the 2020 season in the Atlanta Falcons Week 14 loss.

Having been a huge Matt Ryan fan throughout his 13-year career, the time has come to officially come to grips with reality, Atlanta Falcons fans. The former NFL MVP will never be the player he once was.

Falcons faithful must come to this realization, especially those who have continued to support and back him up. This is a sad and painful reality. Ryan has deserved all of the support and adulation he’s received over his career. But as has been said time and again, all good things must end eventually. And such is the case with the quarterback.

Matty Ice is melting before our very eyes. He has become a major factor and is contributing to the team losing this season, like it or not. As evidenced by the last three weeks, he has played very poorly. A veteran quarterback of his stature should know well when to throw the ball away. Yet, Ryan continues to hold on to the ball way too long, taking unnecessary sacks and not seeing the field while under pressure.

A 13-year veteran quarterback and former MVP continues to lock in on his wide receivers. Opposing defenses are reading his eyes and telegraphing his passes easily. In Sunday’s loss against the Chargers, Ryan’s three horribly thrown interceptions were a result of this, as well as his continued lack of zip on passes. Ryan never had the strongest arm and that modest velocity has decreased significantly, especially on his out routes.

Matt Ryan isn’t solely to blame for the Atlanta Falcons problems but he’s part of it.

It is no secret that the Falcons offense overall in 2020 has been average at best, mostly due to the atrocious playcalling and awful scheme of offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. The loss to the Chargers is one of the very few games in Ryan’s career where the loss was mostly on him.

His play has been off since the loss to New Orleans three weeks ago and he continues to look like a confused rookie on the field. Sadly, his true colors have come to the forefront. To be fair, a lack of a run game and porous offensive line play with many holes has not helped Ryan at all this season.

To many Atlanta Falcons fans, the Matt Ryan show is getting old and stale. The harsh reality and, to the joy of many fans, is that the team will most likely select their future quarterback in the upcoming 2021 draft.

Ryan will go down as the greatest quarterback in team history who should have a Superbowl victory under his belt. His career stats are nothing short of outstanding. With an entirely new regime expected this upcoming offseason, it is a no-brainer that the time has come to draft his replacement. Anybody who thinks otherwise is clearly fooling themselves.