The countdown to kickoff 2024 for the Atlanta Falcons continues as we are only 102 days away from Atlanta's week one duel against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Atlanta Falcons legend Matt Ryan has started 222 games for the Falcons over his 14-year career. For 102 of those games, Ryan eclipsed 275 yards passing, the third-most in that span behind only Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
In this exercise, we note a few things from those 102 games, including his best games.
Best Game: September 18th, 2014 - vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Listen, a lot of great things happened in this game:
- Devin Hester surpassed Deion Sanders for the most return touchdowns in a career against former head coach Lovie Smith.
- Atlanta tied its largest halftime margin of 35, also against Tampa Bay in 2012.
- Atlanta posted its second-largest scoring margin, only topped by the 62-7 drubbing of the New Orleans Saints in 1973.
But at the forefront was the performance of Matt Ryan. On the "Sound FX," head coach Mike Smith went up to Ryan, who told him he wanted to "cut it loose."
Man, did he ever.
Ryan went 21-of-24 for 286 yards for three touchdowns and ended the day with a passer rating of 155.9. Ryan's three incompletions tied for the least he's thrown any time he's thrown more than five passes in an NFL game.
Matt Ryan's night is done.
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 19, 2014
21/24, 286 yards, 3 TDs.
Quality day at the office. #Falcons #MattyIce #TBvsATL pic.twitter.com/JoGF51qG2E
Wins are Not a Quarterback Stat
From 2008 through 2021, four players had 100+ games where they threw for 275+ yards in a single NFL game: Drew Brees (128), Tom Brady (114), Matt Ryan (102) and Aaron Rodgers (101).
Below are the records for each of those players in these instances:
| Player | Win | Loss | Tie | Win % |
| Drew Brees | 83 | 45 | 0 | 64.8% |
| Tom Brady | 93 | 21 | 0 | 81.6% |
| Aaron Rodgers | 67 | 33 | 1 | 66.8% |
| Matt Ryan | 52 | 50 | 0 | 51% |
Ryan had a lot of great days, but there were times, even on Ryan's best days, when the team overall couldn't get it done. In fact, out of Ryan's top-five games by passer rating, when he throws 275 yards or more, Ryan only won three of them. The other two, the New Orleans Saints, pulled it out in overtime in 2018, and the Falcons' defense let up 340 yards to a rookie Kyler Murray on the way to a 34-33 loss behind a late missed extra points by Matt Bryant.
Ryan had the most 275+ yard games against the Saints, but more often than not, the Falcons could not capitalize, winning only four of the seventeen contests.
Matt Ryan: Panther Tamer
When Ryan played against the Carolina Panthers, he was usually money. Out of their 28 meetings, the Falcons under Ryan laid waste to the Panthers 10 times, nine of them coming with Ryan posting 275 or more yards passing.
The most notable performance came from week four of the 2016 season, as the Panthers reeled from their crushing Super Bowl 50 defeat.
This game, though, we don't remember just for Ryan's 503 yards and four touchdowns on 28-of-37 passing.
Against the defending NFC champs with an elite defense that was historic the year prior, Julio Jones gives the Panthers a cool 300 yards. pic.twitter.com/7bfPlmW42F https://t.co/kJaFoXMni0
— Eric Robinson (@_Eric_Robinson) May 23, 2023
Julio Jones hauled in 12 of his 15 targets as he went for a Falcons record 300 yards against the Panthers.
