"Fair's fair. If we criticize Matt Ryan for not throwing the best deep ball and for authoring a tepid start to this season — and we have on both counts — we must also say this: The guy's got it going now. (Maybe not on the deep pass, but on everything else.)

It's not as if Ryan is throwing more, or even more accurately. His totals for attempts and completions from those first seven games to the past seven are almost identical. What's different is the effect. By whatever means — slightly deeper throws, more yards after catch — the Falcons have become more pass-productive.

Numbers geeks insist the single most important stat in football is yards per attempt, and through seven games the Falcons' YPA was pedestrian. Now it meets NFL requirements. Through seven games Ryan hadn't had much of a season, but he's having one now. He's on pace to set personal bests for yardage and touchdowns, and he's 0.5 off his best seasonal passer rating."