NFL Divisional Playoff Recap: Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco Prove They Aren't Elite

Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco are both highly touted young quarterbacks who have played good football since their first year in the league. They were each selected in the first round in the 2008 draft; Ryan was taken third overall while Flacco went 18th.

And through their first three seasons in the NFL the two have become well-oiled efficient QB's. But Saturday was a disaster for the two of them. The Atlanta Falcons were routed at home despite being the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Green Bay handed it to the Falcons throughout the night embarrassing them in their home building.

Flacco's Baltimore Ravens put up a fight against the Pittsburgh Steelers but coughed up a 21-7 lead. Ben Roethlisberger out-dueled Flacco and carried his team to a 31-24 victory. 

Needless to say it was a rough night to have your nickname be a bird.

The two QB's are no longer rookies, so don't expect them to get a free pass from the disappointing losses, especially Ryan.

Let's take a further look at Flacco and Ryan's performances on an individual basis.

Matt Ryan

"Matty Ice" lost his privilege of his nickname tonight. There wasn't a calm collective QB leading the Falcons' offense like there usually is. Instead an impostor put on a Ryan costume and played like a frail QB who made poor decisions in big moments.

The Falcons got off to a strong start by taking a 7-0 lead before Green Bay answered back to tie the score. Eric Weems then returned a 102-yard kickoff to the house to put Atlanta back on top. That would be the last time the Falcons led.

The Packers put two more touchdowns on the board to take a 21-14 lead with 42 seconds remaining in the half. Mike Smith chose to try and put points on the board before the half ended, although it backfired when Ryan made an inexplicable throw that was intercepted by Tramon Williams and returned 70 yards for a TD.

Not only was it a poor throw, it was a bad play call to have Ryan roll out to his left in the first place since any throw required him to throw across his body. Ryan ended up finishing the game with 186 yards passing, a TD and two picks.

In his two playoff games he's combined to throw for 385 yards, two TD's and four INT's. Those are numbers Ryan is going to have to hear about until he lives up to expectations in a big game. 

Right now, Ryan is a good game manager who has had success in the regular season. But regular season wins only go so far; eventually you have to win in the postseason.

And until Ryan does, he isn't an elite QB.

Joe Flacco

The Ravens are in a tough spot. They keep putting together good regular season but get bested in the playoffs. Flacco's playoff record is a respectable 4-3, although the biggest concern is that in those four wins he's never played that well.

It seems that the Ravens keep getting out of the first round despite Flacco and end up knocked out of the playoffs because of him. That's a lot to put on the third-year pro but this is a tough business. All that matters are wins and losses in the playoffs. 

Against the Steelers, Flacco looked poised in the first half leading the Ravens on two scoring drives. Heading to the locker room Baltimore owned a 14-point lead and was just 30 minutes away from the AFC championship game. 

But a lot can go wrong in 30 minutes. And it did for the Ravens. Flacco turned the ball over twice and the Steelers capitalized off of his mistakes.

Despite playing an atrocious second half the Ravens still had a little over a minute to try to even the score at 31 apiece. It wasn't meant to be as T.J. Houshmandzadeh dropped a critical fourth down pass which ended the game. 

Flacco's final numbers were ugly; he finished with 125 passing yards and just one TD pass to go with his two turnovers. Not all of the blame can fall on Flacco's shoulders, though. Anquan Boldin dropped a ball he should have caught in the end zone that would have put Baltimore on top 28-24.

Instead the Ravens' mistakes proved too costly for them to overcome.

It's going to be a long offseason for Baltimore and an even longer one for Flacco. Critics will be line up from day one of training camp to remind him about his postseason struggles. And like Ryan, until he gets the job done when the lights are the brightest, he can't be considered an elite QB at this stage.