Look, Matt Ryan is a great quarterback who is very busy making history in all sorts of ways, so you can forgive us if there’s some absurd, record-breaking streak of his that we simply aren’t aware of. You can also forgive us if we learn about a streak like that, find out it has been broken, and then feel sad for a little bit. We’re human!
Thanks to Football Outsiders’ Scott Kacsmar, however, we have both learned about one noble Ryan streak and can now properly grieve it.
Matt Ryan just had one of the most consistent streaks of efficient QB play in NFL history snapped. https://t.co/tBt2qWsjWG @TheFalcoholic pic.twitter.com/P0a5pXBtJU
— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) October 3, 2017
Under Kyle Shanahan (and briefly Steve Sarkisian), Ryan had gone 25 straight games without seeing his average yards per attempt dip below seven yards. You can look at the chart above and understand how rare and amazing a streak like that is, and what it says about both Ryan and the quality of the offense he has been working in. We’ve been very fortunate to see the Falcons operating at this level for the last couple of seasons, and it tells the tale of how efficient this passing game has been.
Alas, an excellent Bills defense ended that in tandem with injuries to Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu. It’s another impressive record we’ll talk about someday when Ryan’s career is winding down and we want to properly appreciate his impact, but for the moment, let’s quietly curse the Bills and continue to appreciate #2.