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“I was like we just won this game, man!”: When Peyton Manning gave Matt Ryan no rest by talking Super Bowl strategies immediately after NFCG

Ashish Priyadarshi
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Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning was always ready for the next game, never dwelling on a win for too long, and Matt Ryan found out about this the hard way.

Ryan has been the face of the Falcons for as long as you can remember, easily their best starting quarterback in team history. However, just recently, the team decided to move in a different direction and traded Ryan away to the Indianapolis Colts.

Ryan will look to forge a new identity in Indy as while he’s quietly been a really good quarterback the past few years, his teams have been disappointing, and thus a lot of blame shifts over to Ryan for not being able to elevate his team past their talent level like perhaps Russell Wilson has.

Ryan is definitely still a very high quality starting quarterback even if his better days are past him. Just don’t forget that there was a time when Ryan was winning MVP and guiding his team to a Super Bowl.

Also Read: “Tom Brady has caused people to appreciate LeBron James’ season a little less”: Nick Wright believes NFL GOAT’s greatness has overshadowed Lakers star being dominant this NBA season

Peyton Manning wanted Matt Ryan to be ready immediately after winning NFCG

The 2016-17 season was a memorable one for the Atlanta Falcons. The team’s offense exploded that year, carrying them to an 11-5 record and the #2 seed in the NFC.

Matt Ryan was prolific through the air, passing for 4,944 yards, 38 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. His quarterback rating of 117.1 led the league, and for his dominance, Ryan was awarded the NFL MVP and OPOY, and he nearly had Super Bowl MVP too, until the Patriots decided to come back from down 28-3 in the third quarter.

The Falcons were riding a lot of momentum heading into the Super Bowl. They had just trounced the Green Bay Packers at home in the NFCG, winning 44-21, making it six straight wins (including the regular season). Right after the NFCG, Ryan was eating dinner when he got a call from Peyton Manning. The legendary QB already wanted Ryan to prep for the next two weeks, sticking to his no-days-off motto.

Also Read: “Tom Brady pulled a Michael Jordan on us with the help of Cristiano Ronaldo”: How a conversation with Man United star reversed the NFL GOAT’s decision just like the NBA GOAT

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi

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Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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