As far as elevating the level of play of those around him...he had almost the same stats with his backups as he did when he had really good perimeter weapons, so I'd say its pretty clear he absolutely did raise the level of play of those around him.

He was working with replacement players at nearly all the crucial spots on offense (both WRs, both OTs, and the RB) and kept the offense moving the ball and scoring points at the same level they did with premier talent at those spots.

The defense, however...

The only way he looked worse was in the win column.

Game managers don't throw for 4500 yards and 26tds when they have replacement level guys at the skill positions.

Harry Douglas was his best receiver and he threw for over 4500 yards. If that's a game manager, sign me up.

He also threw it 650 times this year, 2nd most in the league, 8 throws behind Manning for the lead, turned it over 21 times and was sacked 44 times. He average less than 7 yards per completion, had his highest number of turnovers in his career, and his 3rd lowest TD total. So other than his yardage (which obviously he should have had, he threw it 650 times), his year was pretty average.

So the stats are a little misleading.

It's Matt Ryan's fault he was playing with replacement level OTs and throwing to replacement level wideouts on a team that had no running attack whatsoever? They had the worst running attack in the NFL at less than 1250 yards all year...that coupled with the amount of sacks Ryan took should perfectly illustrate how bad the OL performed without its usual bookends.

He only threw it 35 more times than in 2012 and threw 3 more interceptions than 2012, too.

I'd say that's pretty damn impressive, given the circumstances.

LT Sam Baker
RT Tyson Clabo
WR1 Julio Jones
WR2 Roddy White
RB Steven Jackson

Those are the guys that were hurt for all of, or most of 2013 or were let go.

To keep pace with his career numbers while losing those pieces is impressive.

Game managers don't average almost 300 yards per game in those circumstances.

Other than the yardage, what did he excel at this year statistically?

Or.... Maybe can we finally acknowledge that stats don't always correlate with wins? It's what drives me crazy about people knocking on game managers.

Joe Flacco had a career high in yards. Matt Ryan and Stafford had extremely impressive statistical years. These kinds of QBs, like Eli, Big Ben, and Ryan have proven that they can produce even when they don't get much help. But did anyone stop to think that maybe some of the defensive struggles might be because the QB was throwing too much, instead of managing games?

Great game managers may not make their receivers shine, but they elevate the play of their running backs and defense.

He had an almost identical year to Tom Brady in almost every relevant category

Yards
Ypa
Td
Total QBR
Standard QB rating

With both players surrounded by replacement level talent, too.

The difference is that Tom Brady had a defense that gave up one less touchdown per game, had a solid OL and a running attack to fall back on where Matt Ryan didnt have those things.

He only threw it 35 more times in 2013 than he did in 2012.

In 2012, the Falcons gave up less than 300 points (top 10 scoring defense with John Abraham, Sean Weatherspoon, Brent Grimes, etc)...last year, they gave up almost 450.

There's the difference in wins and losses..that's giving up almost 10 more points per game.

Expecting Matt Ryan to overcome that while losing almost every piece on the offense isn't realistic.

I think he did rally well with what he had to work with.

I am just pointing to the idea that while some teams are okay with winning games in shootouts where the QB has to attack at all points in the game, many teams are better suited for a game manager philosophy. And it takes a special type of QB to do that well.

Matt Ryan, like Eli Manning and Big Ben, proved that they are at their best when they have a true running game. And I think it's an absolute joke that even though running back is one of the easiest positions to fill, those three teams have been completely inept at bringing even one guy worth a damn. The lack of a running game forced Ryan to win games by himself.

The falcons brought in Steven Jackson and had Jaquizz Rodgers....neither could stay healthy, though.

I'm basing it on his entire body of work.

He's a high-end game manager. You'll never change my mind.

So whos the best Game Manager of all time? My pick: Troy Aikman

But that is just your definition.

Matt Ryan is the NFL leader since 2008 in game winning drives...so "by definition" he is NOT a game manager.

Or, should I say by YOUR definition?