The last time Dirk Koetter coached Matt Ryan, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback had established himself as a viable starter for a playoff team, but nonetheless failed to crack the league's upper-echelon of signal-callers. Five years later, Koetter is back in Atlanta in his old role as offensive coordinator, and believes the 2016 MVP is playing the best football of his 11-year career.
#Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said Matt Ryan is playing the best football of his career. pic.twitter.com/eqRhH5wuUX
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) February 20, 2019
Ryan threw for 4,924 yards, 35 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 2018 while completing 69.4 percent of his passes, numbers that fare favorably to his MVP campaign in 2016. Unlike that season, though, which ended in a Super Bowl appearance, the Falcons failed to take advantage of Ryan's success, finishing 7-9 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Koetter was introduced as the Falcons offensive coordinator on January 8th. He spent the previous three seasons as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, failing to live up to the promise of his first year with the team by finishing 5-11 each of the last two seasons. Koetter was fired on December 30th, 2018 after Tampa Bay's 34-32 loss to the Falcons in the regular season finale.
This is Koetter's second stop in Atlanta. He first joined the franchise in 2012, spending two years as offensive coordinator before assuming the same position with the Buccaneers in 2015. The Falcons finished eighth in net yards during two of his three seasons with the team, also ranking seventh in points per game in 2012.
It remains to be seen how much better Atlanta will be offensively going forward, as the team's skill-position stalwarts begin aging out of their primes. Clearly, though, Koetter doesn't think Ryan's performance will be what holds the Falcons back.
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