Poor Matt Ryan. He’s a good quarterback — maybe the most underappreciated in the NFL. But the league needs to do him a favor and make sure he never plays another game on Thanksgiving again.
Matt Ryan’s 3 Thanksgiving turnovers against the Saints, ranked by silliness
Nothing quite like getting stiff-armed into the ground by a 300-pound man on a national holiday.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
A year after the Falcons lost to the Saints on Thanksgiving, the Falcons ... lost to the Saints on Thanksgiving. This time at home.
Last year, Ryan was responsible for two of the Falcons’ four turnovers in that game. This year, he was on the hook for all three of his team’s turnovers — and each one carried its own degree of disrespect.
Let’s rank them by silliness:
3. Ryan gets picked off by Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who is apparently invisible
Ryan was playing without No. 1 receiver Julio Jones, who was inactive due to a shoulder injury. That means he had to rely more on guys further down the depth chart like Justin Hardy. Early in the fourth quarter, the two were not on the same page:
Ryan didn’t even see Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who easily picked him off and ran it back for a 28-yard gain, setting up a New Orleans field goal.
Mostly, that interception can be blamed on miscommunication, though it’s funnier to think that Gardner-Johnson is a ghost.
2. Matt Ryan’s legs (!) get a first down ... and he fumbles mid-air
Ryan is not Lamar Jackson out there on the football field. He doesn’t run very often or even a little fast. Coming into Week 13, he had rushed for 85 yards this season.
So it was a little surprising to see him take off for — and pick up! — the first down on third-and-5. He even made a little move to jump over a defender. Good for him!
Then, Marcus Davenport showed up to bring Ryan back to reality.
Listen closely, and you can actually hear the “bloop” as the ball flies a few feet in the air:
Vonn Bell was there to pick it up and the Saints added a field goal on the ensuing drive.
1. Ryan gets STIFF-ARMED TO HIGH HELL after a big man interception
This was Ryan’s first interception and my god, the sheer level of indignity here:
Let’s look at that again:
ONCE MORE:
Ohhhhh noooooo.
Shy Tuttle was definitely not shy about completely humiliating Ryan on national television, that’s for sure. The Saints couldn’t capitalize off this turnover, but that’s probably because everyone still had tears in their eyes from laughing at a 300-pound defensive tackle stiff-arming Ryan into the turf and leaving him there to flail on the ground and question everything about his life leading up to that point.
Some may say Ryan has to retire now, but I disagree. Despite his turnovers, he never quit and had the Falcons fighting until their last drive — even while he was sacked nine times during the 26-18 loss.
Instead, Ryan needs to never be on a football field on Thanksgiving again. Let the man be home with his family!
At least Ryan can take comfort in this: he’ll never have the most embarrassing turnover in Thanksgiving Day history.
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