Matt Ryan really likes playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Georgia Dome

Think back to the 2008 NFL season — Matt Ryan's rookie year.

Ryan's first professional pass was a 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins, free agency prize Michael Turner ran for a franchise-record 220 yards and the Falcons dominated the Detroit Lions 34-21.

Against Detroit, Ryan didn't need to do much. He threw the ball just 13 times — completing nine passes — for 161 yards, the touchdown to Jenkins and no turnovers. He was only sacked once.

The following week, however, things changed rapidly.

It was the first time Ryan would play a game on the road and it was against an NFC South opponent: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It wasn't pretty.

Ryan missed on his first two passes, then threw an interception on his third attempt. Overall, he completed just 13 of his 33 passes for just 158 yards (that's a paltry 4.8 yards per attempt average), zero touchdowns and two interceptions. He was also sacked four times this time around.

It was the rookie's "welcome to the NFL" game.

Since that game, Ryan has faced the Bucs 13 times. The Falcons won 10 of those matchups.

And while Ryan's 10-4 record against Tampa Bay is his best against the NFC South opponents, what really stands out is the fact he's 6-1 when facing the Bucs in the Georgia Dome. That one home loss came in the season finale in 2012. (Of note: Ryan was injured against Tampa Bay in 2009. Atlanta won that game with Chris Redman taking over under center.)

For comparison's sake, his overall record against the Carolina Panthers and the New Orleans Saints is 8-6 and 5-9, respectively.

Last season, the Falcons dominated the Bucs 56-14 in the Georgia Dome. In that game, Ryan had the same amount of touchdowns as incompletions: three.

In the seven home games against the Bucs, Ryan has completed 116 of 165 passes for 1,359 yards, 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Both of those interceptions came back in 2008 — a game the Falcons still won. He's also never completed less than 63.6 percent of his passes.

It's something to keep in mind when Atlanta hosts Tampa Bay Sunday afternoon.