Out-of-Town Q&A: Atlanta Falcons

We caught up with Howard grad D. Orlando Ledbetter, who covers the Atlanta Falcons for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to answer three questions about this weekend’s opponent for Redskins Plus.

Why have the Falcons never had back-to-back winning seasons?

The culprit has been bad management over the years. Under the ownership of the Smith family, the Clampetts of the NFL, the Falcons did not select nor retain talent. It took the them 32 years to make their first Super Bowl appearance. While the ownership has changed, the franchise has yet to put together consecutive winning seasons. While the history has been colorful — from coach Jerry Glanville leaving tickets for Elvis to Michael Vick’s federal dogfightng conviction — it hasn’t included any sustained winning.

Who is Matt Ryan and why has he been so good, so fast in the NFL?

In his native Philadelphia, they started calling the quarterback “Matty Ice” because of his cool and calm demeanor while at Penn Charter High. He went on to Boston College and starred there. Last season, as a rookie, he led the Falcons to an improbable 11-5 record and a trip to the playoffs. Ryan has been so good so far because he studies and has one of the top quarterback coaches in the league in Bill Musgrave, who used to be with the Redskins.

Was running back Michael Turner a flash in the pan?

It doesn’t appear so. After spending five seasons in San Diego as LaDainian Tomlinson’s backup, Turner splashed onto the scene with a big 1,699-yard debut season for the Falcons in 2008. He’s on pace to rush for 1,265 yards this year. He runs low to ground with a powerful style.

Want more from D. Orlando? You can check out his Falcons coverage at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’ Falcons blog (http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-blog), and you can find him on Twitter at @AJCFalcons