When Matt Ryan‘s 2016 season is brought up in conversation, there is always one thing leaps to the forefront: that almost unbelievable blown lead in Super Bowl LI.
The MVP season that came before it is almost an afterthought; the career-high 92.2 passing grade, the best single-season deep passer rating we at PFF have ever seen, the eighth-best single-season success rate (percentage of passing plays that generated positive expected points added) ever recorded by an offense, all somehow lost in the shadows of that eventual 25-point squandering.
But the reality is that Matt Ryan’s 2016 season showed us all just what the perpetual top-10 quarterback could be at his very best: the league’s most valuable player.