Statistically Speaking: Breaking down Atlanta’s Week 14 numbers

In what was often considered their last winnable game of the 2020 season, the Atlanta Falcons failed to bring home a victory on Sunday. The team is now 4-9 and has officially been eliminated from playoff contention. All that’s left on the schedule is the Tampa Bay Bucaneers (twice) and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.

For now though, all we can do is try to enjoy the games and look for some optimism, if any is to be found. This won’t be a deep dive into the analytical side of the numbers put up, but more of a broad outlook on random stats and facts, and any records that may have been broken over the weekend.

Without further ado, lets get started.

Calvin Ridley has his first 1,000 yard season

On Sunday, Calvin Ridley recorded 124 receiving yards which put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. In his first two NFL seasons, Ridley had 821 yards in 2018 and 866 yards in 2019. He continues to become a large part of this offense, especially with Julio Jones missing time with a lingering hamstring injury. With three games remaining on the schedule, Ridley is on pace to have 1,286 receiving yards. He currently ranks 29th on the all-time franchise single season receiving list, and if he hits the pace previously mentioned, he’ll be 13th all-time. Those twelve instances ahead of Ridley’s current projection all made the Pro Bowl except for Roddy White in 2012.

Vikings join Falcons as only teams 0-6 against Tom Brady

This isn’t necessarily a Falcons record, but at least the team isn’t alone in it anymore. Future Pro Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady is currently 6-0 against only two teams — the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons. The Vikings joined the Falcons this past weekend after falling to Brady and the Buccaneers on the road. The Falcons will face Tampa two times in the next three weeks, so maybe they can fix that.

Matt Ryan passes Peyton Manning in passing yards milestone

Even with a terrible day on Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, Matt Ryan passed one of the best quarterback’s in NFL history. Ryan officially has the most passing yards in a quarterback’s first 13 seasons (54,846) breaking Manning’s record of 54,828. It’s no doubt impressive, and Ryan still has three more games to add to that record number.

Russell Gage joins Mohamed Sanu as only Falcons wide receivers to throw a touchdown pass

You probably thought you’d make it through this article without seeing a Mohamed Sanu reference. Well, you’re wrong. Sanu had two total passing touchdown for the Falcons from 2016-2019. Impressively enough, Russell Gage joined Sanu as the only wide receivers in franchise history to throw a touchdown, following his 39-yard pass to Calvin Ridley. It was honestly a beautiful pass, and I would be shocked if this is the last time we see a Gage pass.