Matt Ryan Nominated for Player of the Week
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan had been under siege by opposing defenses as well as pundits across the country for his lackluster start with his new team.
In the Colts 34-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Ryan helped quiet the critics, at least for a week. He was 42 of 58 passing for 389 yards and three touchdowns including the game winner to Alec Pierce with just 17 seconds left on the clock.
Ryan had been sacked 21 times the previous five games, but he wasn't sacked in the win over the Jaguars on Sunday.
For his effort, he has been nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Week.
Ryan's competition is Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals. Allen was 27 of 40 passing for 329 yards and three touchdowns. Burrow was 28 of 37 for 300 yards and three touchdowns.
Ryan was quick to spread praise for the game-winning touchdown to Pierce.
"Frank (Reich) went into the headset and he said, ‘Hey, trust what you see. You can go this or you can go that.’ And I just trusted Alec (Pierce). He's so good on those kind of routes. I think a lot of times in those situations, throwing the ball past the sticks, being aggressive, taking a shot is huge. You can't play scared in those situations. And I thought it was, you know, a great call. Great route. And just tried to give him a chance. And a really good play by him."
His numbers stack up favorably against his competition and fans are encouraged to vote for this week's winner.
If Ryan wins, it will be the second week in a row a Colts player has gotten national recognition.
Last week kicker Chase McLaughlin was Special Teams Player of the Week following his 4/4 performance and scoring all of the Colts points in a 12-9 win over the Denver Broncos.
The Colts have moved to 3-2-1 and are a half-game back in the AFC South standings because of the Week 1 tie against the Houston Texans.
They'll have a chance to stake sole claim of first place in the division on Sunday in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans.
