Matt Ryan named NFC offensive player of the week

The Atlanta Falcons produced a comeback victory over the New Orleans Saints in week one, and quarterback Matt Ryan was the leading contributor to the win. In addition to that, however, Ryan’s excellent performance stood out above the rest of the league to the point where he has been named the NFC offensive player of the week.

The 29-year-old Ryan set an Atlanta Falcons record (and his own personal career mark) for single-game passing yards against New Orleans, racking up 448 yards on 43 attempts, and in addition, he connected on three touchdown passes to aid in the victory. This is the fifth NFC offensive player of the week award of Ryan’s career, and when coupled with the fact that he also broke the franchise record for career touchdown passes during the contest, it was a pretty fantastic day at the office for the seventh-year player from Boston College.

It is not exceedingly likely that Matt Ryan will continue to lead the NFL in passing yardage (which he currently does after one week), but the Atlanta Falcons are blessed with some serious firepower on the outside with Harry Douglas and Devin Hester supporting the “big two” of Julio Jones and Roddy White, and the stage is set for perhaps the best statistical season of Ryan’s career. Stay tuned.