Matt Ryan Blames Kyle Shanahan Play Calling For Super Bowl Collapse
By Erik Lambert
If the Super Bowl hangover was ever going to affect a team, one would think it’s this year to Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons.
It’s just so hard to imagine they can get over blowing a 28-3 lead in the biggest game of their lives. At least right away. Much of this is due to several of the players still lamenting where things went wrong. How do they go from being minutes away from champions to ultimate choke artists? There are many answers to that question but perhaps the one talked about most had to do with former offensive coordinator Kyle Shahanan.
It was felt that towards the end of regulation Shanahan was being too stubborn with his play calling. He refused to run the ball, especially on a key sequence that could’ve put the game away following Julio Jones’ magnificent circus catch to put Atlanta in the Patriots red zone. Instead they kept throwing, leading to a sack-fumble by Ryan that led to the pivotal turnover of the game.
Though normally a team player who shoulders the blame, Ryan uncharacteristically called Shanahan out for that during an interview with Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.
A true case of giving it away
"“Kyle’s play calls — he would take time to get stuff in. As I was getting it, you’re looking at the clock and you’re talking 16 seconds before it cuts out. You don’t have a lot of time to say, ‘There’s 16 seconds, no, no, no, we’re not going to do that. Hey, guys, we’re going to line up and run this.’ You’re talking about breaking the huddle at seven seconds if you do something along the lines.“With the way Kyle’s system was set up, he took more time to call plays and we shift and motion a lot more than we did with (former coordinator) Dirk (Koetter). You couldn’t get out of stuff like that. We talk about being the most aggressive team in football. And I’m all for it. But there’s also winning time. You’re not being aggressive not running it there.”"
You know it’s serious when even the clean cut Ryan is taking shots. Shanahan is known for having a complex offense. It’s great when executed properly as last year showed. However, it also has some fatal weaknesses if the right situation arises. A mix of slow calls and stubborn unwilliness to run became the cocktail the Patriots needed to pull off their miracle rally.
What makes it sting even more is that Kyle is the son of Mike Shanahan. He was one of the great offensive minds of the 1990s and a huge proponent of sticking with the run in tight games. It’s hard to argue with that given he won two championships that way. It had to be hard for him to watch the end of that game, knowing they should’ve been running it more.