To be a Falcons fan, more than almost any franchise, is to endure the absurd. The Falcons haven’t been the worst team in the NFL over the last half-century and they haven’t been anywhere close to the best, but they find their way into history in ways I genuinely wish they would not.
Case in point: Matt Ryan could very well finish with the best, or at least one of the very best, seasons ever completed by an NFL quarterback who didn’t make the playoffs. That’s the argument from Optimum Scouting’s Justis Mosqueda, who writes that Ryan is having an MVP-caliber season in the midst of a injury-marred clown show that has the Falcons at 4-5 heading into Week 11.