3 aggressive goals for Matt Ryan in his first season with the Colts

How will Matt Ryan perform in his first season with the Indianapolis Colts? What are some aggressive goals for the veteran quarterback?

With the 2022 season starting up, Matt Ryan steps into a good system that compliments his play with the Indianapolis Colts. This is going to be an offense arguably better than any that he has ever had. The Colts are shooting for the stars this year and should have aspirations of making a deep postseason push this year. Let’s dive into three aggressive goals that Matt Ryan should strive to achieve for this upcoming season.

Goal No.1 – Move into top five all-time in passing yards

Going into this season, Matt Ryan currently has 59,735 passing yards for his career. He needs 4,354 yards this season to take over fifth place. He will be in elite company if he does so. He would only trail Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady. Ryan has a good chance of achieving this goal. With a high-powered offense, there is no limit to what he and this Colts team can do. In his 14-year playing career, he has had eight seasons where he has eclipsed the total yards that he needs to move into the top five.

Ryan has never played with an offense with the caliber of this Indianapolis team. He has never had a consistent 1,000-yard running back as he does in Jonathan Taylor. He has also never had an offensive line like he will this season with the Colts. Matt Ryan is very good in the play-action game. Having a running back that teams have to key in on will be a huge advantage for this Colts offense this season. This will open up opportunities for these young receivers to shine with a dependable quarterback like Ryan.

With the weapons that Matt Ryan has here in Indy, he has a very good chance to lead this team to a good season and achieve the goal of getting into the top five in passing yards this season. It will be fun to get to watch him lead this team on Sundays.

Goal No. 2 – Throw his career high in touchdowns

Coming into this season, Matt Ryan has thrown a total of 367 touchdowns over his 14-year career. That makes an average of 26 touchdowns per season. His career high for touchdowns in a season is 38. He threw 38 touchdowns in his MVP season. I think that, in this new offense and the new system that he has been put into, he can break that and throw 40 touchdowns.

Ryan takes good care of the ball as well. He averages 12 interceptions a season over his career. Not bad at all. I think with more protection from a better offensive line, he can trim that number down.

For the last couple of years, the Colts have been near the bottom half of the league in red zone production. With a good, accurate quarterback like Matt Ryan, he and this offense have a chance to buck the trend. He can ride his workhorse running back down the field and hit his big-play receivers down the field. There are plenty of guys on this roster that can help him get to this number. In an interview on the Dan Patrick Show, while on the Falcons, Ryan talked about what the most important stat was when it comes to gauging success. His answer: red zone stats.

The Colts and Matt Ryan are a perfect match made from Heaven. They have struggled in the red zone the last few years, and that is where Matt Ryan thrives. Once again, having a good back comes into play here. Indianapolis can utilize the play-action game where Ryan seems to thrive and in turn, can up his touchdown totals to some of these big pass-catchers he will have this season.

If Matt Ryan can throw for this mark of touchdowns, watch out. If you can compliment him with a good defense as well, this Colts team could cause some problems after missing the postseason last year. Indy has not had a quarterback throw for this many touchdowns since 2014 with Andrew Luck (40.) I am confident that in this new scheme he will be in, and with the playmakers that he has around him, Matt Ryan can throw 40 touchdown passes this season.

Goal No. 3 – Win league MVP again

If Matt Ryan can put up the numbers that I have alluded to and win games, there is no reason that he should not be in the MVP conversation. Does anyone know when was the last time the Colts had an MVP? If you said 2009, you are correct. The great Peyton Manning was the last player to win an MVP in a Colts uniform.

Matt Ryan has won MVP with less talent before, and coincidentally, Peyton Manning was the presenter of the MVP award when Ryan won. Now, if Ryan can put it all together and win games with Peyton’s old team, he could have himself another MVP award.

You have to credit the Colts front office for the team that they have put together that is built to win now. Going into this season, it felt like the Colts were mostly lacking at quarterback. Ryan will be able to give them a steady, reliable option at quarterback. The last time Ryan won MVP, his team was in the Super Bowl. Maybe that can happen again.

It is going to be exciting to see how Ryan and the rest of this Colts team play this season and how far they go. If Matt Ryan can put these stats together that I have complied and mix that with a good defense. The sky is the limit with this Colts team.

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