Tag: Rookie Matt Ryan

If one were to grade the success of Thomas Dimitroff in his first year as general manager for the Atlanta Falcons, there’s no doubt he would receive close to perfect marks. The hire of Mike Smith as head coach and the drafting Matt Ryan – two of Dimitroff’s first moves as GM – have been slam-dunks thus far.

Ryan (22 of 30, 301 yards, 1 TD) was absolutely unbelievable in the Falcons’ exciting 22-20 win over the Bears in Week 6. Chicago was definitely at a disadvantage playing without their two starting corners (Peanut Tillman left the game early with an injury), but most of Ryan’s throws were on the money and well-timed, including his perfect 26-yard toss to Michael Jenkins with 11 seconds remaining in the game to set up Jason Elam’s 48-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.

Give the Falcons credit. They knew they had something special in Ryan and even though the success rate for rookie quarterbacks in this league has been low, they believed in him and made him a starter anyway. He’s a young man playing on a young team, but his maturity so far has been incredibly impressive. And how about the play of the Falcons? This is a team that goof ball Dr. Z of SI.com predicted to win one game this year and they’re 4-2. They’ve got the makings of a nice team.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say anything about Kyle Orton, who was outstanding himself on Sunday. He drove Chicago 77 yards on 11 plays to set up a 17-yard TD to Rashied Davis, which temporarily gave the Bears a 20-19 lead. Orton has really distinguished himself as a quality quarterback in Chicago, which is something the Bears have been craving for a long time.