Strange things happened when Matt Ryan and Drew Brees first met on a football field, and Chevis Jackson went 95 yards the other way in the Georgia Dome to sew up a Falcons win and snap the Saints’ four-game winning streak in the series with No. 9 as their quarterback.
When Ryan and Brees square off Thursday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Falcons will be seeking more of the same.
That may be hoping against hope. This guy is playing out of his mind, like he’s re-invented the quarterback position.
Brees is completing 76.9 percent of his passes – far surpassing his NFL-record single-season mark of 72.0 percent last season – with 25 touchdown passes and one interception. One.
It was different that first time.
Brees has played against the Falcons 26 times, 20 with Ryan as the Falcons' quarterback, and in that first set-to Nov. 9, 2008, at the Georgia Dome, he was uncommonly common.
He already had beaten the Falcons (4-6) four consecutive times after joining the Saints (9-1), but that day completed just 53.5 percent of his passes (31 of 58), still the lowest rate in his career against the Falcons, with two touchdown passes and three interceptions.
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Jackson stepped in front of one of his last throws, and when the former cornerback raced nearly the length of the football field with 1:17 left in the game to give the Falcons a 34-13 lead, the outcome became formality. Typical of Brees, he kept battling and threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore as time expired.
He hasn’t stopped. Since that game, Brees is 13-7 against the Falcons.
Overall, he's 17-9 against the Falcons, including a loss while playing for the Chargers, 12-8 when Ryan also played (he missed a game against New Orleans in 2009 with a turf-toe injury), and he's completed 68.5 percent of his passes for 8,053 yards, 49 touchdowns and 26 interceptions in 26 games against the Birds.
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Ryan threw the ball less than half as often as Brees in their first meeting, yet was much more efficient in completing 16 of 23 passes for 248 yards and touchdowns to Roddy White and Jerious Norwood without an interception.
Still, he marvels at his 6-foot tall NFC South rival, who’s playing in his 18th NFL season.
"He's played a high level for a long time and this season is no exception. He's a tremendous competitor and he's just relentless," Ryan said. "He will go out there week in and week out and put out great performances. It's a testament to him because he's been doing this for as long as he has and as consistently as he has into whatever year in the league for him."
Brees, 39, is coming up in plenty of MVP conversations, which would be something new. Despite making 11 Pro Bowls and setting scads of NFL single-season and career passing records, he’s never taken that prize.
He might this season, as New Orleans wide receiver Michael Thomas has become the ultimate target and running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara have helped level out the Saints’ offense like never before.
They’ve scored 40 or more points in six games, and averaged 48 over the past three.
Brees isn’t throwing deep as often as in most years, but the return of Ingram from suspension in the fifth game has diversified the New Orleans attack in big ways. They’re crazy balanced, and the dude flipping the switches has been like Oz behind the curtain as the Saints have won nine straight.
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“You talk about the consistency of quarterbacks in this league. You guys always hear me talk about Drew first. Drew is up there with Tom Brady in our era and the consistency,” Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel said. “... It’s a different challenge, and he’s playing well. He’s the maestro, and the maestro does a great job of performing under pressure.”
It’s not like Ryan hasn’t played well against the Saints.
The 2016 NFL MVP has completed 65.1 percent of his passes against New Orleans for 5,977 yards, 37 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions.
When they met earlier this season, the Falcons didn’t lose 43-37 to the Saints in overtime because of Ryan. He connected on 26 of 35 passes for 374 yards, a career-high five touchdowns (three to rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley) and not a single interception.
Brees, though, orchestrated a last-minute drive to force overtime when he scored on a 7-yard scramble with 1:15 left in regulation. Somehow, the maestro made like a magician and spun away from would-be tacklers Robert Alford and Brian Poole on that one.
Then, on the first drive of overtime, he ended the game with a 1-yard jump-sneak. Those were the only two rushing touchdowns that he’s scored in 26 games against the Falcons.
Oh, and before that he completed 39 of 49 passes for 396 yards and three scores.
Brees sure looks like he’s playing better than ever.
“That's a big statement for a guy who has done it really well for a long time,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “... He's been as challenging a guy to go against through the years as you can imagine. But the accuracy, the decision to where to go with the ball, I've always felt going against him, it was the decisiveness of where to go ...
“But to say he's been doing it better than ever, he's been doing it pretty well for a long time, so I would say he's certainly doing it as well as he ever has.”
The things that most make Brees so good are his feel in the pocket and sense for when to get rid of the ball and his accuracy.
The Falcons have sacked him only 30 times in 26 games, while the Saints have sacked Ryan 36 times in 20 games. He’s been sacked only nine times in New Orleans’ 10 games.
It helps to get in his face, like when the Falcons sacked him five times Dec. 21, 2014 and defeated New Orleans 30-14. Brees, though, is getting rid of the ball as quickly as ever and he may be playing behind the best offensive line of his career.
“Like a lot of quarterbacks, No. 1, you have to find ways to pressure, and pressure doesn't mean, you know, like five guys or six guys and a blitz. But you have to find ways to the quarterback where he's getting hit or he has to move,” Quinn said.
“... I would say more than anything, just finding ways to pressure him, which is not easy to do. It's difficult in terms of the way that they're playing, and his decisiveness, he's seen most of the looks and pressures through the years, like a lot of good quarterbacks.”
The Saints have sacked Ryan five times in a game three times, and New Orleans won all three: 17-13 on Nov. 21, 2013, 31-21 on Oct. 15, 2015, and 23-13 on Dec. 24 last year.
Ryan has had some good days against the Saints, including the first meeting this season, but that doesn’t mean the Falcons won.
On Nov. 11, 2012, he threw for 411 yards in New Orleans, yet the Saints won 31-27.
He passed for 448 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions Sept. 7, 2014 at the Georgia Dome, but the Saints won 37-34.
Ryan and Brees probably won’t talk about the game after the game, but they’ve talked from time to time, chiefly at Pro Bowls.
They’re not looking to help each other much, and it’s not like Ryan’s struggling. He is completing a career-high 71.1 percent of his passes, he’s on pace to throw for a career-record 5,289 yards and he’s thrown just four interceptions.
But they can buddy up once in a while.
“I’ve gotten to know Drew throughout the years. I don’t think either of us are giving away secrets since we’re playing against each other twice a year in the same division,” Ryan said. “More so than anything ... being together at Pro Bowls, it’s just a consistency, how he takes care of himself in the offseason.
“How he takes care of his body and how he gets ready to go year in and year out, more stuff like that.”
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