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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... 55801504/1

Newly chiseled Matt Ryan embodies his team's 2012 mantra to finish stronger and step up in postseason weight class after adding 7 pounds of body armor to his 6-4, 220 frame.

BUY Atlanta Falcons TICKETS Sponsored LinksThe question is, will the Atlanta Falcons quarterback's physical transformation produce a January-February breakthrough for a player driven to cast aside a haunting 0-3 playoff record?

Hope grows that Ryan's added muscle, gleaned through intense weight training, along with a revamped offensive line will translate into a run at the Lombardi Trophy.


"My frame could have used the extra 7 pounds for a couple of years," Ryan says with a laugh. "I've gotten stronger and hopefully more durable."

Ryan owns a sterling 43-19 record in regular-season games. But the playoff losses in which he threw a total of three touchdown passes and four interceptions while averaging less than 200 yards drew speculation he was running on empty.

"The main focus was trying to be in the best possible shape to really play at a high level in November, December and January," Ryan said.

"It's a league where one team and one quarterback are happy at season's end. We haven't been that one team yet. But we're primed and ready to be a great football team."

The man nicknamed "Matty Ice" more resembled "Matty Icebag" as he was hit a combined 110 times last season in suffering 26 sacks and 84 quarterback hits behind a leaky line.

"Matt's approach to this offseason has been admirable," general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "He has really set out to strengthen himself physically and understands the importance of being strong and having endurance down the stretch.

"He's put more time in here this offseason than anyone.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Matt is an upper-echelon quarterback."

When Ryan was drafted third overall in 2008 out of Boston College, comparisons were made to a young Tom Brady.

But Ryan's postseason struggles are more reminiscent of a young Peyton Manning, who ended his 0-for-3 postseason skid when he led the Indianapolis Colts to a 2003 season wild-card win vs. the Denver Broncos.

"I don't know if they've taken a before and after picture, but you can definitely see the noticeable difference with Matt," coach Mike Smith said. "If you're stronger at the beginning of the season, you're going to be stronger at the end.



"It's very important for us, because we feel like we've got to be more consistent and play better at the end of the season."

It starts up front. To help Ryan orchestrate a deeper passing game, free agent guard Vince Manuwai, second-round center-guard Peter Konz and third-round tackle Lamar Holmes were added.

"We have to take the things we've learned from our critical analysis of the last three times that we've been in the postseason," Smith said, referencing the most recent disappointment — a 24-2 drubbing administered by the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

If he'd gained 7 pound 3 offseasons in a row and now was bout 235-240 that would seem a lot more relevant.

Hopefully we see a difference, but he definitely should have added some bulk/strength before this offseason.

He was developing strength previously... Remember his rookie year? We were all wondering if he could throw the ball 50 yards. As the season wore on, his throws had less and less on them. That really hasn't been the case for the past couple of years. Obviously, he improved his throwing arm over that time.

I know he's been working out some. I've just never understood why he stayed so skinny. It helps having some weight and strength back there where you take a beating.

They may not have prioritized it, or they may have gone by the old school notion that "shooters and QBs" shouldn't mess with their strength too much because it will change their mechanics. That last notion is so outdated I hope that's not what it was, but I have been surprised his entire career at how thin he stayed.

It's a bit harder nowadays, because you really only want to train for mass/strength in the offseason (especially if you shoot/throw) and in football, there's only about 3 months or so. So I understand the difficulty, was just surprised at the delay.

I think the point here is why did it take him this long to realize lifting weights adds strength. With his arm strength he was WAY overdue. If anything most athletes continue to get stronger post college, as they can lift full time, as its their full time job.

Don't confuse arm strength with accuracy. It's apples to oranges.

I don't. Ryan is an accuracy master, when his arm strength doesn't come into question. If we ran the right offense he'd be right there among the league elite I truly believe. We haven't seen that offense yet fwiw.

Agree. His completion percentage will be up this season.....more screen passes. I want to see him hitting those 15-20 yarders and have the receivers work their magic after that.

Agreed AJ, the word I keep seeing pop up is YAC, which is highly encouraging. I agree on the screens too.

This is where Mularkey failed. Too many hooks and sideline timing outs. Hard to get YAC when your called pattern has you coming back to the ball. Keotter, do your job!

Really good point there about the hooks/digs, which Rowdy was a master at, but provided zero yac (plus the sideline was every opponent we've hads best friend with those routes). Can you imagine how much better numbers he could have put up the last 3 seasons or so, with a little route variation? Geez, he could have had a few hundred extra yards I would imagine.

I have to think that snapshot we got last year from Julio taking a slant the distance was a nice preview for this year. The right route combos between these two, with HD and Gonzo over the middle is damn hard to defend.

I don't think that him being, "skinny," has been an issue. He has been the model of durability thus far. (knocking on nearest wooden object.) When he got his ankle stepped on last year, I figured he was done. The guy he replaced probably would have been out for a few weeks after that. But Matt got taped up and got right back in there.

This is what I don't like about our offense. I don't think we win in the middle. Douglas isn't dynamic over the middle. He has had difficulty separating from man coverage. And Gonzo also isn't dynamic. I think this holds this offense back. With a QB like Ryan, you want to have your best mismatches in the middle of the defense which is the hardest part of any defense to defend because you have lesser cover men there (LBs & Ss). This is why our ability to get Jones in the slot can be a dynamic option. But it is negated by the fact that Douglas isn't that good on the outside because of his inability to beat press. Thus why I think/thought it was important for the Falcons to find a No. 4 WR that can play on the outside. This gives our offense it's most potent mix.

And when we replace Gonzo next year, it'll be nice to get a TE that can challenge the vertical seams. Thus why a player like Allen and Fleener would have been good pickups this off-season.