Getty Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan went viral on Twitter after reassuming the team's starting quarterback role in Week 10.
Interim head coach Jeff Saturday of the Indianapolis Colts received plenty of social media love after he captured an improbable first win during his NFL coaching debut with a 25-20 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10.
But Twitter didn’t forget about Colts quarterback Matt Ryan.
The 37-year-old signal caller, who returned behind center after being benched the past two games, went viral on Twitter on November 13 as well. First, he sparked conversations on social media for his career-long 39-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The Ryan tweets kept flowing in after the Colts victory, which Ryan fueled with his fifth fourth-quarterback comeback and fourth game-winning drive of the season.
Ryan Sets New Personal Record With Long Run
Heading into Week 10, the longest run of this season for Ryan was a mere 10 yards, which he scrambled for in Week 1 against the Houston Texans. Before Week 10, the veteran quarterback ran for a career-best 29 yards versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017 and scampered for a career-long 20-yard run in a contest back in 2010.
All of those records fell when Ryan sprinted for 39 yards on a single run versus the Raiders on November 13.
Matt Ryan 39-yard run? Matt Ryan 39-yard run! @M_Ryan02
📺: #INDvsLV on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ t.co/BOnQEreYOl
Even Ryan admitted the play was weird.
“I’m not used to being in the open field for that long,” Ryan said during his postgame press conference. “Maybe if I was a little faster, I could have scored. But I did the best I could.”
Twitter loved the best Ryan had to offer on the running play.
Oh my god Matt Ryan just scrambled 40 yards
Matt Ryan running the ball has always been a problem for opposing defenses
39-yard run by Matt Ryan right there was longer than his best rushing GAME of his 15-year career.
Matt Ryan in open space
All the Colts had to do to figure out their season was unleash Matt Ryan’s untapped rushing ability
Matt Ryan really just ran for 39 yards!!?? He said don’t ever think about benching me again.
Best rushing QB’s
1. Justin Fields
2. Matt Ryan
It’s week 10 and Matt Ryan’s longest rush of the season is longer than Marcus Mariota’s longest rush of the season. Wild
Ryan rushed for minus-1 yard on his other 3 attempts on November 13. Therefore, his new career-high in rushing yards during a game is 38 yards while the longest run of his NFL career is 39 yards.
Two plays after the long run, Ryan found Parris Campbell for a 35-yard touchdown, which proved to be the game-winning score.
Ryan Sparks Colts Again
It hasn’t been the best season for Ryan from a ball security perspective. He had a league-leading 9 interceptions and 11 fumbles when the Colts elected to bench him after Week 7.
But the Colts also don’t have a victory this season without Ryan recording a game-winning drive. His 5 fourth-quarter comebacks lead the NFL as well.
All four of the Colts’ wins this year have included Matt Ryan 4Q comebacks
If the Colts win, the story will be about Jeff Saturday.
What it should be about: the 3-3-1 Colts benching Matt Ryan, who was playing Perfectly Acceptable and at times Extremely Tough And Impressive football, for Sam Ehlinger because ownership was impatient
You won’t ever be able to convince me benching Matt Ryan made sense.
Matt Ryan has an NFL-best five fourth-quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives in just EIGHT games this season 🤯
Ryan is now 4-3-1 as a starter for the Colts this season. He has posted a 68.9% completion percentage, which is his best mark since the 2018 season. He’s also averaging 278.8 passing yards per game, which is 55 more yards per contest than he averaged last season.
His 5 fourth-quarter comebacks not only leads the league but is also tied for a career high, and there are still seven games remaining. He’s also only 2 game-winning drives short of tying other career-best mark.
The Colts have led going into the fourth quarter just once this season, and that was on November 13 versus the Raiders. But Indianapolis’ lead vanished when Las Vegas scored a touchdown with a little less than 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
That gave Ryan another opportunity for a game-winning drive, and he came through in the clutch.
The Colts have a difficult schedule remaining in the 2022 season, but if they can keep games close, they’ll have a chance to win with the way Ryan is performing in the fourth quarter this year.