How did Matt Ryan handle pressure in 2021?

[Bolt Colt]

How did Matt Ryan handle pressure in 2021?

Kevin Hickey

 

The Indianapolis Colts brought in quarterback Matt Ryan to provide more stability to the offense after spending the first 14 years of his career with the Atlanta Falcons.

As Pro Football Focus ranked each quarterback in how their grades differed between clean pockets and under pressure, Ryan had the 15th-highest grade differential during the 2021 season.

Here’s what Pro Football Focus had to say about Ryan handling pressure during his final campaign with the Falcons.

15. MATT RYAN, ATLANTA FALCONS

Clean-pocket Passing Grade: 87.8 | Pressured-pocket Passing Grade: 53.6 | Difference: 34.2

While 245 of his 617 dropbacks were under pressure, Ryan still completed 107, which was the top mark. His 1,246 yards were second-most, and he averaged 6.4 yards per pressured dropback. While he completed a second-ranked 16 big-time throws, he also had 15 turnover-worthy players and 40 sacks.

While it may be a bit subjective, there’s an easy narrative to latch onto in terms of why he had so many turnover-worthy plays and sacks.

The offensive line Ryan was working with during the 2021 season was rough. That may be putting it nicely. There’s a possibility that Ryan was trying to do too much to compensate for the lack of help offensively, but we don’t expect him to do that with the Colts.

While there are plenty of players on the Colts offense that will need to prove themselves this year, Ryan has never had a running back like Jonathan Taylor. In addition, the emergence of Michael Pittman Jr. gives him another talent in the passing game.

But the biggest difference will be the offensive line. The Colts may not have been up to their elite standards in 2021, but they should still be a top-10 unit. This is especially true if Matt Pyror or rookie Bernhard Raimman excel at left tackle.

Ryan should bring some stability to the passing attack, and the upgrade at offensive line should help take the pressure off of the 37-year-old.

[Shepman]

I thought our line underwhelmed last year in pass protect.  I am hoping that this year will be a turn around back to greatness for this line but we won't know until we get there.  

[shasta519]

I mean...the Colts' pass blocking was just about as bad as ATL last year, at least according to PFF.

 

And if you look at Wentz's numbers, he was hit on 14.5% of PAs, while Ryan was hit on 15% of PAs. 

 

And that was with Wentz being mobile and able to run designed rollouts. He also escaped a collapsing pocket quite often...and probably turned that into a 1st down scramble once per game.

 

Ryan getting rid of the ball quicker will be huge, but I think people will miss Wentz's mobility to an extent.

 

The track record is certainly there, but the recent trends have not been. So I just don't know how we can look at last season...and assume that Ryan is going to get a top 10 pass blocking OL. But either way, it's going to play a huge role in the success of this offense.

[2006Coltsbestever]

31 minutes ago, shasta519 said:

I mean...the Colts' pass blocking was just about as bad as ATL last year, at least according to PFF.

 

And if you look at Wentz's numbers, he was hit on 14.5% of PAs, while Ryan was hit on 15% of PAs. 

 

And that was with Wentz being mobile and able to run designed rollouts. He also escaped a collapsing pocket quite often...and probably turned that into a 1st down scramble once per game.

 

Ryan getting rid of the ball quicker will be huge, but I think people will miss Wentz's mobility to an extent.

 

The track record is certainly there, but the recent trends have not been. So I just don't know how we can look at last season...and assume that Ryan is going to get a top 10 pass blocking OL. But either way, it's going to play a huge role in the success of this offense.

Ryan's ability to get rid of the ball quicker and read defenses better will help. Ryan in his whole career has never played with a RB like Taylor either. Ryan will be in heaven playing here. Also our Line had a lot of injuries last season. Nelson and Kelly both will be 100%.

[sb41champs]

I don't think Matt Ryan will feel any "pressure" to perform in Indy.

 

He is coming to a team with a far far FAR better o-line that what he left behind in Atlanta.

 

He will have a better stable of running backs.

 

He will have a better stable of wide receivers.

 

While the TE depth is young - it should mature more during the coming season.

 

All-in-all - I think Matt Ryan has a chance to take this team on a deep playoff run.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, sb41champs said:

I don't think Matt Ryan will feel any "pressure" to perform in Indy.

 

He is coming to a team with a far far FAR better o-line that what he left behind in Atlanta.

 

He will have a better stable of running backs.

 

He will have a better stable of wide receivers.

 

While the TE depth is young - it should mature more during the coming season.

 

All-in-all - I think Matt Ryan has a chance to take this team on a deep playoff run.

Many people keep saying our pass blocking was as bad as Atlanta's and pointing out stats to prove it. A lot of that was due to Wentz not reading defenses quickly and holding on to the ball which nobody is bringing up. I think Ryan will be more Rivers like.

[AltonioRodriguizDelToro]

18 hours ago, shasta519 said:

I mean...the Colts' pass blocking was just about as bad as ATL last year, at least according to PFF.

 

And if you look at Wentz's numbers, he was hit on 14.5% of PAs, while Ryan was hit on 15% of PAs. 

 

And that was with Wentz being mobile and able to run designed rollouts. He also escaped a collapsing pocket quite often...and probably turned that into a 1st down scramble once per game.

 

Ryan getting rid of the ball quicker will be huge, but I think people will miss Wentz's mobility to an extent.

 

The track record is certainly there, but the recent trends have not been. So I just don't know how we can look at last season...and assume that Ryan is going to get a top 10 pass blocking OL. But either way, it's going to play a huge role in the success of this offense.

I watched 15 ATL games ly, Ryan certainly took sacks waiting a second too long for his 2nd tier receivers to get open. Ryan, however is not a statue as some think. He can still make plays on a roll out, pick up first downs with his feet ( two rushing td’sin one game ly lol). He is slow enough that people disregard his abilities and will take advantage of it in spots. 

[AltonioRodriguizDelToro]

“He has deceptive speed…he’s slower than you think he is” - some sports commentator on Steve Bartkowski in the 80’s

[AwesomeAustin]

18 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Many people keep saying our pass blocking was as bad as Atlanta's and pointing out stats to prove it. A lot of that was due to Wentz not reading defenses quickly and holding on to the ball which nobody is bringing up. I think Ryan will be more Rivers like.

I think Wentz struggled with reading defenses as well.  Yeah he had a lot of pressure but half of it is knowing where its coming from and adjusting to it.  This is where he would struggle.  When the pressure came it turned into backyard football and he wanted to run and find someone open. Hence the emphasis on hitting the layups.  Just dump the ball off and get 3-7yds and line up again. I think Matt Ryan will be much better at this. 

[FootballMom]

Given time Ryan will pick apart defenses.

The problem in Atlanta was he had no time, the only year he had a great OL, he took the Falcons to  the Super Bowl, won MVP,  he threw for 4,944 yards, had a QB rating of 117.1 and threw 38 TDs to 7 INTs. 

Falcons have had poor OLs since I can remember. Yes, they drafted 2 in the 1st round 2 years ago, but they haven't been the players they had hoped for if it was injuries or just not great players.

I'm really happy he has a OL this year that wouldn't put his life in danger everything he drops back! lol

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 hour ago, FootballMom said:

Given time Ryan will pick apart defenses.

The problem in Atlanta was he had no time, the only year he had a great OL, he took the Falcons to  the Super Bowl, won MVP,  he threw for 4,944 yards, had a QB rating of 117.1 and threw 38 TDs to 7 INTs. 

Falcons have had poor OLs since I can remember. Yes, they drafted 2 in the 1st round 2 years ago, but they haven't been the players they had hoped for if it was injuries or just not great players.

I'm really happy he has a OL this year that wouldn't put his life in danger everything he drops back! lol

As Colts fans we are spoiled rotten  . People really need to realize this. Baltimore days we had Unitas and then Bert Jones, then Jimmy Harbaugh in Indy - got robbed in 1995, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers, and now Matt Ryan. Ok, only 2 SB wins but 2 is still great. We actually have 4 Championships counting Unitas's in 1958 and 1959. Since the 2002 realign of the divisions we have more wins than any franchise + the SB win in 2006 except for the Pats.

 

Pats ruined it for everyone because they won 6 SB's from 2001-2018. They made it look it easy, so they have many people duped in believing that winning SB's is easy. What is funny is, Peyton is 3-1 vs Brady in AFC Title Games and Eli is 2-0 in SB's vs Brady. Nobody ever talks about that. Also if the Seahawks coaching staff had half a brain and didn't get cute, the Pats lose that SB. I blame the Falcons SB loss on coaching too, just run it 3 times and take the FG, then you are up 31-20 = game over. Matt has his ring.

 

We are blessed to have Matt Ryan now and lucky. I never seen this scenario playing out when we were searching for a QB. I kept hearing Baker, Mariotta, Trubisky, draft one. I was like we are screwed. Then we pull some magic and get Matt, great stuff by a top 10 franchise of all-time. - Matt Ryan will have me breaking the ol' Cigar out many Sunday's.

 

We will not only win on opening day, we will win something like 40-10. I am calling it.