Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan made history on Sunday, but unfortunately it came because of a 43-37 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Ryan completed 26 of his 35 pass attempts for 374 yards and five touchdowns. He didn't throw a single interception and finished with a quarterback rating of 148.1. That mammoth QB rating is now the highest passer rating ever recorded in a loss in the Super Bowl era, according to NFL.com's Kevin Patra.
The previous record-holder was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who posted a 141.3 rating in a 37-34 loss to the New York Giants in 2011.
Patra noted some other incredible facts about Ryan's performance:
Sunday marked the 26th time in NFL history that a player threw for 350-plus passing yards, 5 TDs and no INT, per NFL Research. But Ryan was just the third to lose such a game. The others: Dan Marino, 38-34, to the Jets in 1988; and Eli Manning, 52-49, to the Saints in 2015.
— Kevin Patra (@kpatra) September 24, 2018
Ryan found Calvin Ridley seven times for 146 yards and three scores, and a touchdown toss to Mohamed Sanu midway through the fourth quarter gave the Falcons a 37-30 lead. But Atlanta's defense couldn't seal the deal, giving up a game-tying touchdown drive to send the game to overtime and then allowing another score on the first possession of the extra frame.
Drew Brees had a monster game himself, throwing for 396 yards and three touchdowns. His QB rating was “only” 120.7 as the Saints racked up a whopping 534 yards for the game.
Ryan has bounced back in a big way after struggling in the Falcons' season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but Atlanta's defense needs to get its act together to help out the high-powered offense.
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