Domo: 'We were so close,' says Falcons' Ryan

HOUSTON - He was the league's Most Valuable Player, but that means little to Matt Ryan right now.

He led the NFL in passing this season and set the Falcons' franchise record for passing yards and touchdowns and completion percentage. And he couldn't care less about any of that at the moment.

The Penn Charter product watched helplessly Sunday night as the prize he wanted most, his first Super Bowl title, slipped away.

He watched that damn Tom Brady, with the perfect life and the perfect wife, engineer the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. He watched his Falcons blow a 25-point third-quarter lead and lose to the Patriots in overtime, 34-28.

Brady won his fifth Super Bowl title. The 31-year-old Ryan continues to the elusive quest for No. 1.

Ryan completed 18 of 23 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns against the Patriots. Nine times out of ten, you win football games when your quarterback puts up those kind of numbers.

But not Sunday. Not against Tom Terrific. Not when your defense goes in the tank and gives up 336 yards and 24 first downs in the second half.

Ryan needed the ball one more time in overtime, but never got the opportunity.

The Patriots won the overtime coin toss, took the ball and marched 75 yards down the field to win the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by James White. Ryan watched helplessly from the sideline.

Ryan had a practically perfect postseason. He completed 71.4 percent of his passes. He averaged 10.3 yards per attempt. He threw nine touchdowns and no interceptions. He had a 135.3 postseason passer rating.

He has established himself as one of the very best quarterbacks in the National Football League.

But until he wins a Super Bowl, until he owns The Ring, there always will be "yeah buts." As in, yeah, but he's never won a Super Bowl.

"It's very disappointing," Ryan said after the game. "We were so close to getting done what we wanted to get done, and it just slipped away.

"We played aggressive. We played to win. But we made some mistakes that, at the end of the day, cost us."

The Falcons took a 28-3 lead with 8:31 left in the third quarter when the red-hot Ryan threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 6-yarder to running back Tevin Coleman.

But the Falcons would run just 16 more offensive plays and pick up just three more first downs the rest of the game, while Brady and the Patriots mounted their remarkable comeback.

The Patriots controlled the ball for 401/2 minutes and ran 47 more plays than the Falcons.

"We all brought each other back," Brady said. "We never felt out of it. It was a tough battle. They have a great team. I give them a lot of credit. We just made a few more plays than them.''

With 81/2 minutes left in the game, the Falcons still held a seemingly comfortable 28-12 lead. They had a third-and-1 at their own 36. They pick up a first down there, the game might very well have been over.

Then things began to go to hell. Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower came in unblocked from Ryan's blind side and knocked the ball out of his hand as he was getting ready to throw.

The ball squirted loose and was recovered by Patriots defensive tackle Alan Branch at the Atlanta 25. That turnover – the Falcons' first of the postseason – ignited the Patriots' remarkable comeback.

"I was just doing what my teammates expect me to do," Hightower said. "Matty P (defensive coordinator Matt Patricia) put me in position to make the play. All I did was go out and execute."

The Falcons seemed to regain momentum on their next possession when Ryan teamed with running back Devonta Freeman on a 39-yard catch-and-run and then completed a spectacular 27-yard sideline pass to Julio Jones over ex-Eagle Eric Rowe.

That gave the Falcons a first down at the New England 22 with less than five minutes left. A field goal would have made it a two-score game.

But then Freeman was stopped for a 1-yard loss, and Ryan was sacked again for the fifth time in the game by Trey Flowers for a 12-yard loss, and left tackle Jake Matthews was penalized for holding, which moved the Falcons back to the New England 45.

So much for a field goal and a two-score lead. They had to punt and Brady worked his magic, leading the Patriots on a 10-play, 91-yard touchdown drive that, along with a two-point conversion, tied the game and forced overtime.

"We just did some things (in the second half) that got us off schedule a little bit and put us behind the chains," Ryan said. "Penalties and just mistakes. And we weren't able to overcome them.

Ryan had a near-perfect first half. He only attempted eight passes, but completed seven of them.

After the Falcons managed just two first downs in the first quarter against the Patriots, Ryan and Jones got things going on the Falcons' first possession of the second quarter, which came after rookie linebacker Deion Jones stripped the ball from Patriots running back LaGarrette Blount.

Ryan hit Jones for a 19-yard completion against cornerback Logan Ryan, then went right back to Jones on the next play for a 23-yard completion that gave the Falcons a first down at the Patriots' 29.

Three plays later, Freeman scored on a 5-yard run around the left side to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead.

Ryan completed three of four passes on the Falcons' next possession, including a 24-yarder to Taylor Gabriel, an 18-yarder to Jones, and finally, a 19-yard touchdown to rookie tight end Austin Cooper, who took the ball away from former Eagles safety Patrick Chung.

While Ryan was picking apart the Patriots' defense in the first half, Brady was struggling.

He was under pressure from the Falcons' four-man rush much of the half and completed just 16 of 26 attempts. Brady, who threw just two interceptions during the regular season, made a major mistake late in the second half.

Under duress, he threw a pass for Danny Amendola that was picked off by Falcons cornerback Robert Alford, who returned it 82 yards for a touchdown to give Atlanta a 21-0 lead.

But against Brady and the Patriots, it ain't over 'til it's over.

"They're a good football team and they're tough," Ryan said. "We are, too. We just didn't get it done today. I thought we had the right mindset. I thought we played the right way. I thought we gave incredible effort out there. We just felt a little bit short."

pdomo@aol.com

@Pdomo

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