Matt Ryan's not dead yet.
It certainly didn't appear that way a year ago, when Ryan pieced together a season so bad that even a Tom Hanks-led mission couldn't have saved him. In 2015, Ryan threw 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions and posted an 89.0 passer rating.
OK, so it wasn't as awful as I made it sound, but he hardly looked like the top-level quarterback he was in 2012. In the three season since, punctuated by last year, Ryan's looked normal, not exceptional.
But Ryan appears to have gotten back on track. Last week, he threw for 396 yards and three touchdowns. That marked his fourth consecutive 300-yard passing game, dating back to last season. After two games this year, Ryan's 121.4 passer rating leads the NFL. He's tied for second in touchdowns (five). Perhaps most importantly, his interception rate sits at a career-best 1.4 percent.
So, how is Ryan doing this? Let's take a closer look at the offense, which came under heavy scrutiny a year ago when some turmoil involving offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan surfaced (Roddy White would still like a word).
As a whole, the Falcons' offense is averaging 451 yards per game (second in the league) with 355.5 of those yards coming via the passing game (tops in the league). They're scoring 29.5 points per game, tied for the sixth-highest average.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ryan's generated a 124.5 passer rating when his offensive line has supplied him with adequate protection. Even when he's under pressure, his passer rating sinks to only 106.8. He's even compiled a perfect passer rating when blitzed, having completed 20 of 25 passes for 337 yards and three scores. So no, Ryan doesn't have a clear statistical weakness.
He's also impressed with his deep ball. On passes thrown more than 19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, Ryan's gone 4 of 6 for 185 yards, per PFF. He's been even better on short to immediate throws, completing 26 of 32 passes within 9 yards of the line of scrimmage for 332 yards (this doesn't include passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage). So, Ryan's averaging over 10 yards per attempt on those passes.
His most efficient route is the slant, according to PFF's numbers. When targeting a receiver running a slant, Ryan has gone 7 of 8 (with that incompletion being a drop) for 87 yards, two touchdowns, and a 151.6 passer rating. In all, 12 percent of Ryan's passes are thrown toward slants.
The highest percentage of Ryan's passes -- 28 percent -- are going toward crossing routes. That's unusual. The 2015 league-average for passes thrown to crossing patterns was 11 percent. He's thriving on those routes too, racking up a 115.7 passer rating.
When looking at his entire route tree, via PFF, it's tough to find any route that Ryan isn't hitting with consistency.
| % of his attempts | Completions | Attempts | Drops | YPA | TDs | INTs | Passer rating | |
| WR/TE screens | 7 percent | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6.8 | 0 | 0 | 95.0 |
| Quick outs | 6 percent | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | 79.2 |
| Slants | 12 percent | 7 | 8 | 1 | 10.9 | 2 | 0 | 151.6 |
| Out routes | 4 percent | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 82.6 |
| In routes | 6 percent | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 68.8 |
| Comebacks | 1 percent | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 118.8 |
| Hitches | 10 percent | 6 | 7 | 0 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 143.8 |
| Post Routes | 9 percent | 3 | 6 | 1 | 12.2 | 1 | 1 | 94.4 |
| Go Routes | 3 percent | 2 | 2 | 0 | 51.5 | 0 | 0 | 118.8 |
| Crossing Routes | 28 percent | 12 | 19 | 1 | 10.4 | 1 | 0 | 115.7 |
| HB screens | 3 percent | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 89.6 |
| HB non-screens | 12 percent | 7 | 8 | 0 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 116.7 |
One aspect I found interesting is his success throwing to running backs on non-screens. When he does that, he's averaging 12 yards per pass. Shanahan's found a way to turn his backs into dangerous receivers. Tevin Coleman's been targeted by Ryan eight times and he's managed to come down with seven of those balls. He's averaging 17.1 yards per reception.
The point being, Ryan's been pretty darn awesome in the first two games of the season, and he hasn't been pretty darn awesome at just one or two things. He's done it all. Julio Jones is averaging a career-best 19.1 yards per reception and Mohamed Sanu is averaging 12.4, serving as a capable compliment to Ryan's No. 1 target.
There's no reason to expect Ryan's success to end Monday night, when the Falcons go to New Orleans for a divisional matchup against the Saints. According to STATS, Ryan has compiled eight career 300-plus yard passing games against the Saints.
Here are four more stats to know for Week 3 of "Monday Night Football."
2. Drew Brees is still good
Of course, Drew Brees isn't so shabby either. Through two games, Drew Brees is performing like Drew Brees.
His stat line: a 66.3 completion percentage, 686 yards, five touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 109.9 passer rating. So yeah, he's been good, too.
With that being said, the Giants did prevent him from popping off a week ago. In a 16-13 loss, Brees completed 29 of his 44 pass attempts for just 263 yards and a single touchdown. So, he averaged a measly 5.98 yards per pass after averaging more than 10 yards per pass in a season-opening loss to the Raiders. Keep in mind: Brees tore up the Giants for 505 yards and seven touchdowns a year ago.
Brees' struggles last week might have more to do with a revamped Giants defense, which CBS Sports' Pete Prisco wrote about in his weekly film-review column. The good new for the Brees is that he's not facing the Giants defense on Monday night. He's facing a horrendous Falcons defense.
Plus, Brees has racked up 14 games of 300-plus passing yards against the Falcons. According to STATS, that's the most for any active quarterback against any team.
3. Both quarterbacks might smash records
So yeah, both quarterbacks might smash some records on Monday. Not just because they're both good, but also because the defenses are terrible in this game.
This game might very well end up being this year's version of the Saints-Giants game a year ago, when Brees and Eli Manning combined for 855 yards and 13 touchdowns. The key factor in that game: The defenses, which both ended the year as bottom-three defenses in terms of yards and points surrendered.
So far this season, the Saints rank 31st in yards allowed and 22nd in points allowed (both on a per game basis). Meanwhile, the Falcons rank 29th in yards and 27th in points allowed.
So, expect some fireworks on Monday night. Also expect the Saints to air the ball out. As STATS pointed out, 71.8 percent of the Saints' snaps have been passing plays, which is the second-highest rate in the league.
The key for the Falcons will be to put pressure on Brees. His passer rating drops to 53.2 when he's pressured, according to Pro Football Focus.
4. Injuries to important WRs
Julio Jones and Willie Snead are both dealing with injuries, which leaves Fantasy owners of those two players in a pickle.
Jones is obviously one of the league's top receivers, especially with Ryan operating a top level. So far this season, he's brought down nine passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. In standard-scoring leagues, he's the eighth-ranked receiver.
Snead is actually ahead of Jones in Fantasy points, clocking in as the second-highest scoring receiver. He's doing just as well in terms of traditional statistics, catching 14 of 17 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
According to Pro Football Focus, Jones has been just a tad better than Snead, sneaking in as their sixth-best receiver, one spot ahead of Snead. The point remains: Two of the best receivers in the league at this point in the season are dealing with injuries entering this game.
Assuming both players suit up, there's really no way either of theses defenses are capable of slowing them down, because they're both money all over the field. Take a look at both of their receiving charts, via Pro Football Focus.
Here's Jones:
| Targets | Catches | Yards | TDs | |
| Left, 0-9 yards | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Middle, 0-9 yards | 5 | 4 | 68 | 2 |
| Right, 0-9 yards | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Middle, 10-19 yards | 2 | 2 | 39 | 0 |
| Left, 20-plus yards | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Middle, 20-plus yards | 2 | 1 | 48 | 0 |
Here's Snead:
| Targets | Catches | Yards | TDs | |
| Left, 0-9 yards | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Middle, 0-9 yards | 8 | 7 | 65 | 1 |
| Right, 0-9 yards | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Middle, 10-19 yards | 4 | 4 | 63 | 1 |
| Left, 20-plus yards | 2 | 1 | 49 | 0 |
| Middle, 20-plus yards | 1 | 1 | 43 | 0 |
5. Freeman or Coleman?
Before Devonta Freeman emerged as a Fantasy superstar a year ago, the Falcons' starting backfield job belonged to Tevin Coleman. Only after Coleman got hurt in the early going did Freeman take over as the lead back.
Now that Coleman is healthy again, Freeman is hardly the star he was a year ago. The two have been splitting reps with Freeman on the field for 72 snaps and Coleman getting 62. Here's how they stack up, statistically, per Pro Football Focus.
Freeman's been handed the ball 28 times and has averaged 4.0 yards per carry. He's yet to score a touchdown on the ground. Coleman, on the other hand, has carried the ball 20 times and has averaged 3.4 yards per carry. Freeman holds the edge, mostly due to his 65 yards after contact compared to Coleman's 41 yards.
Coleman's owned the receiving game, though, catching 7 of his 8 targets for 17.1 yards per reception. Freeman's been targeted just four times. He's caught all four of those passes, but he's averaged 5.0 yards per pass.
Wink of the CBS eye to Pro Football Focus
