Getty Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons.
It turns out that whatever Matt Ryan said to Jordan Poyer last week was bad enough to have cost him a couple of thousand bucks.
According to several reports, the NFL has fined Ryan roughly $10,300 for the taunting penalty that was called on him during the Atlanta Falcons Week 17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Falcons QB Matt Ryan was fined $10,300 for taunting last weekend against Buffalo.
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Ryan’s Taunting Call
The NFL’s taunting penalty continues to haunt teams in the worst ways.
The Falcons needed two touchdowns to catch up to Buffalo at the time and it looked like Ryan had scored one early in the fourth quarter, but after review, he was called just 1-yard short of the end zone.
That wouldn’t have been such a bad thing, but then he was called for taunting after exchanging some words with Poyer, which pushed the Falcons back to third and goal on the 16-yard line.
Wild series of events in Buffalo: #Falcons QB Matt Ryan was ruled down at the 1 here, but he was flagged for taunting, pushing Atlanta back to the 16-yard line on third and goal. Ensuing pass attempts were incomplete.
“Football is an emotional game. There are lots of things that are said out there,” Ryan said of the penalty after the loss. “I’m disappointed in myself that the timing cost us (15 yards).”
He added, “I didn’t think it was anything that bad. Quite frankly, I didn’t think it was taunting, but that’s my opinion. Whether I agree with what they call, it’s up to their discretion. I’ve never been called for it before. I was surprised that it was called there, but those are tough calls for the officials too.”
Ryan didn’t repeat what he said to Poyer.
“I probably shouldn’t go into it,” said Ryan. “It’s just disappointing to me. Whether I agree with either of the calls doesn’t make a difference. Those are the rules.”
Falcons End the 2021 Season vs. Saints
The Falcons will kick off their season finale against the New Orleans Saints. Atlanta has already been eliminated from playoff contention but that does not mean that they don’t have anything “left” to play for. They can officially knock the Saints out by beating them on Sunday.
Below is the Falcons’ final depth chart of the season vs. the Saints:
Offense
QB: Matt Ryan, Josh Rosen or Feleipe Franks
RB: Mike Davis, Cordarrelle Patterson, Qadree Ollison
WR: Tajae Sharpe, Christian Blake
WR: Russell Gage, Olamide Zaccheaus, Frank Darby
TE: Kyle Pitts, Parker Hesse Lee Smith
TE: Hayden Hurst, Lee Smith, Keith Smith
LT: Jake Matthews, Rick Leonard
LG: Jalen Mayfield, Josh Andrews
C: Matt Hennessy, Drew Dalman
RG: Chris Lindstrom, Drew Dalman
RT: Kaleb McGary, Colby Gossett
Defense
DL: Grady Jarrett, Marlon Davidson
DL: Tyeler Davison, Ta’Quon Graham, Anthony Rush
DL: Mike Pennel, John Cominsky
OLB: Dante Fowler, Brandon Copeland, James Vaughters
LB: Deion Jones, Mykal Walker
LB: Foyesade Oluokun, Darren Bates
OLB: Steven Means, Adetokunbo Ogundeji
CB: A.J. Terrell, Darren Hall
CB: Fabian Moreau, Avery Williams, Kendall Sheffield
S: Jaylinn Hawkins, Shawn Williams
S: Duron Harmon, Richie Grant
Special Teams
K: Younghoe Koo
P: Thomas Morstead
LS: Josh Harris
H: Thomas Morstead
PR: Avery Williams, Olamide Zaccheaus
KOR: Cordarrelle Patterson, Avery Williams
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