The analysts at Pro Football Focus have graded and charted every NFL game back to the 2006 season, and they recently put together a list of “team killers,” or players that have logged the highest grades against each of the 32 teams. That’s good news for New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, who received a nod for his efforts against the Atlanta Falcons. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was praised for his consistently great performances against the Carolina Panthers.
However, PFF picked out Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan as the bane of the Saints, hyping up his individual performance in 21 career games against New Orleans:
The trend of elite quarterbacks — which Ryan is — dominating divisional opponents continues with the Saints. Against New Orleans, Matt Ryan has racked up 523 completions on 797 attempts for 6,354 yards, 39 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions. While his 51 big-time throws lead all quarterbacks in the matchup by 21, his 11 turnover-worthy plays are fewer than fellow NFC South quarterback Cam Newton (12).
While Ryan has generally made good decisions with the ball and aired out some porous Saints defenses in his time, it hasn’t amounted to much. Ryan has lost more career games against the Saints (13) than any other opponent. That’s nearly as many losses to the Saints as he’s suffered against the other NFC South teams — the Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — combined (15). Maybe he’s not as lethal as his passing numbers suggest.
