Matt Ryan: Blown 28-3 Super Bowl Lead Has 'No Bearing' on Tom Brady, Bucs Matchup

Since Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 lead over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, the 28-3 scoreline has become a meme associated with the team. 

But with the Falcons facing Brady's defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week, Ryan said he wasn't too concerned with the meme. 

"I never heard it. ... Listen, of course we want to win this week, but it's not going to make up for that," he told reporters Wednesday. "It's part of your past. It's part of what happened, but it's got no bearing on this week."

Brady, on the other hand, was leaning into the meme this week in a bit of pregame trolling:

Yes, the clock on Brady's laptop reads 3:28 in the video he released. To the winner goes the spoils, as they say. 

The torment continued for the Falcons last season, as Brady and the Bucs swept the season series. Granted, it was a pretty tough season in general for a Falcons team that finished 4-12. And things didn't get off to a great start this year, either, after Atlanta lost its home opener to the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-6. 

But Ryan appears confident the Falcons can, and will, improve. 

"The good teams I have been on are the ones that have gotten better as the year went on," he told reporters. 

Facing the defending champions, themselves coming off an exciting shootout win over the Dallas Cowboys, will be quite the litmus test for the Falcons. Nobody would blame them for losing—the Bucs might have the most talented roster in football—but if they don't look more competitive than they did Sunday, the alarm bells will be ringing. 

"Nobody is a victim here," head coach Arthur Smith told reporters. "We have to improve."