page_title: Matt Ryan (American football)
section_title: 2008 season
hierarchical_section_title: Matt Ryan (American football) / Professional career / 2008 season
caption_attribution_description: The Atlanta Falcons on offense during a road game against the Oakland Raiders. The Falcons won 24-0.
context_page_description: Matthew Thomas Ryan is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. After playing college football for Boston College, Ryan was drafted by the Falcons with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
  Ryan was Boston College's starting quarterback from 2005 to 2007, leading them to three bowl victories and a 25–7 record in 32 starts. He threw for 200 or more yards 15 times and is third all time in school history in passing yards and in pass completions. He earned MVP of the game honors at the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl.
  In 2007, Ryan led his team to an ACC Atlantic Division championship and was named ACC Player of the Year. During his rookie year, Ryan started all 16 games for the Falcons and led them to the playoffs with an 11–5 season record. He earned honors as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. In 2016, Ryan was the NFL's Most Valuable Player and led the Falcons to Super Bowl LI, where they were defeated by the New England Patriots.
context_section_description: On August 24, 2008, Ryan was named the starting quarterback for the September 7 regular season opener against the Detroit Lions. Ryan became the first rookie quarterback to start a season for the Falcons since Michael Vick in 2001. In the game, Ryan completed his first NFL pass for a 62-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins, becoming the first quarterback to throw a touchdown on his first career NFL pass since Michael Bishop of the New England Patriots in 2000. Ryan was sacked for the first time by Lions defensive player Dewayne White in his first win. The second game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marked Ryan's first interception by rookie cornerback Aqib Talib and also by Sabby Piscitelli.
  In Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs, he completed the then-longest touchdown pass in his career for 70 yards to Roddy White. The 70-yard touchdown pass to White was the longest pass completion for the Falcons since December 23, 2007, when Chris Redman threw a 74-yard touchdown pass. In the same game, Ryan completed passes to 6 different players. The following week, he threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers. His touchdown passes went to Roddy White and tight end Justin Peelle. The following week against the Chicago Bears Ryan led the Falcons to a comeback win. With six seconds left he completed a 26-yard strike to Michael Jenkins that set Jason Elam up for the game-winning field goal as time expired. Ryan finished the game 22-of-30 for a then career-high 301 passing yards. He also had a key fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Roddy White. On Atlanta's first offensive drive, Ryan completed all five of his pass attempts for 57 yards en route to a Falcons field goal and a 3–0 lead. Ryan was named Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week for his performance.
  Ryan created an activity named "Folleyball" for NFL Play 60 at NFL Rush.com, published in October of that year.
  On October 30, Ryan was honored as the NFC Rookie of the Month for October following an impressive string of games in which he led the Falcons to a 2–1 record. Ryan became the first player in Falcons franchise history to be awarded this honor In Week 8 against the Oakland Raiders, Ryan finished with the highest completion percentage of his career (77.3). He threw for 220 yards, two touchdowns, and posted a quarterback rating of 138.4. He also completed passes to eight different receivers and the game was his third multiple touchdown game (Green Bay, Philadelphia). His first half passing yardage, completion percentage (81.3) and passer rating (154.2) are all career highs for a half and his two touchdowns tie a first half high, Ryan's final completion percentage of 77.3 is a career-high along with his passer rating of 138.4. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week following his performance against the Raiders. He scored his first rushing career touchdown against the New Orleans Saints on December 7 with a 12-yard touchdown scramble, Ryan also achieved 3,000+ passing yards in the 2008 season being only the 2nd rookie to do so. Peyton Manning was the first.
  Ryan became the first Falcons rookie quarterback in franchise history to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season after finishing with 206 yards against Tampa Bay. Ryan's passing total also makes him only the 10th quarterback in club annals to hit the 3,000-yard mark and the first since 1998 when Chris Chandler threw 3,154. It was also his first overtime win as a starter. He was named the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week for games played after his performance by the second time in his career. Ryan finished second amongst rookies in fan Pro Bowl voting (416,468 votes), behind only Titans running back Chris Johnson. Ryan threw for a season-low 134 yards in Week 16 against the Minnesota Vikings, ending a streak of nine straight games with at least 200 yards passing, he finished 13-of-24 passing, throwing an 8-yard touchdown passes to Jerious Norwood in the second quarter; however, with this win Ryan led the Falcons to their first playoff berth since 2004.
  He finished the season with 3,440 pa
caption: Ryan takes a snap against the Raiders on November 2.
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