Matt Ryan’s 3rd quarter touchdown pass against the Panthers makes him 12th all-time in passing yards

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has been racking up passing yards this season like it’s his job. (He came into the game with an impressive 4,307 passing yards on the year, the 3rd highest total in the league.) Oh wait, it is his job.

In any case, Ryan achieved something substantial today. On the the very first play of the third quarter, His Iciness threw a pretty, play action, 75 yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley. The TD pass gave him 164 passing yards today and 46,276 passing yards over his illustrious career. The pass allowed him to leapfrog both Vinny Testaverde and Carson Palmer on the NFL all-time passing yardage list, and he now ranks 12th all-time in that category. The pass also allowed him to leapfrog Hall of Famer Warren Moon on the all-time passing touchdown list, making Ryan 13th all-time.

Ryan gets flack at a head scratching clip, and that’s certainly been the case at various points this season. But given that his numbers this season closely parallel those he accrued during his MVP campaign, there’s simply no way to convincingly question his status as the franchise quarterback, now and in the immediate future.

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