Milestone for Matt Ryan as he Passes NFL Legend
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan continues to climb the list of all-time passing leaders in the NFL.
With his 389-yard performance on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Week, but more importantly, he moved past NFL-legend Dan Marino into seventh all-time passing.
Marino played 17 years with the Miami Dolphins and threw for 61,361 yards in his career. Ryan who is in his 15th NFL season now has 61,500 yards.
Ryan was asked after the game about the significance of passing Marino, and he remembers the former Dolphin fondly.
"I'm proud of that," Ryan said of moving into seventh all-time. "You know, I've gotten to know Dan (Marino) since I got into the league back in 2008. And I love him."
"You know, he's a fun guy to be around. He was like the ultimate guy when I was growing up. He would sling it, you know? And I remember the first time I met him, he's like, ‘Hey, no matter what happens, man, keep slinging it.’ And I was, like, 23 (years old) at the time. And I was, like, that's one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard."
"Somehow, someway, here I am 37 (years old) and still remember him saying that to me about 15 years ago."
"You know any time you're mentioned in the same breath as Dan, it's pretty cool and I'm proud of that."
Ryan has former Colts quarterback Philip Rivers in his sights at No. 6 overall. He needs 1,941 yards to get past Rivers. He also has a legitimate chance of passing Ben Roethlisberger for No. 5 before the season is over.
Roethlisberger is currently 2,588-yards ahead of Ryan in the No. 5 spot. Ryan is averaging 294.2 yards per game. With at least 10 games left in the season, the math is easy on this one.
Ryan is projected to have 2,942 yards which would vault him into the Top-5 all-time behind only Brett Favre (71,838), Peyton Manning (71,940), Drew Brees (80,358) and Tom Brady (86,172 and counting).
Ryan had suffered 21 sacks during the first-five games of the season. He wasn't sacked against the Jaguars on Sunday as he threw for a season-high 389 yards and three touchdowns.
Head coach Frank Reich shook up the offensive line, and it immediately paid dividends for the offense. If the offensive line continues to improve and keep Ryan upright, he should pass Rivers and Roethlisberger this season.
Individual accolades will be a byproduct of what could end up being a playoff season after a slow start.
