Most people avoid reliving painful experiences. But not Matt Ryan.
The Falcons' quarterback, and ex-Boston College star, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he's watched the film of his team's devastating Super Bowl to the Patriots several times.
"I watched it a day after. I watched it two days after and I watched it three days after," he said. "For me, it was one of those things where you kind of want to be able to deal with it appropriately.
"Maybe, that's different for everybody. Some people bury it away. Some people [do] whatever . . . For me it was, ‘All right, let's watch. Does it feel the same way it felt as we were going through it?' "
Some quick thoughts from Ryan:
-- Like most everybody, he thought the Falcons had the game won when Julio Jones made his spectacular catch down the left sideline in the fourth quarter: "I was fired up at that point. I thought that was going to be a play that was going to change the outcome of that game . . . At the time, I thought it was a huge play."
-- He won't second-guess the play-calling of coach Dan Quinn or offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who, with Atlanta deep in New England territory and the clock winding down after Jones' catch, called for pass plays instead of runs that would have eaten up time and set up a field-goal attempt that, in all probability, would have clinched the victory for the Falcons: "You have to believe in what you are doing. That’s kind of the way we were all year. That’s not going to change. I love that approach. I love that they have confidence in me and that they have confidence in the guys that we have, and we are going to let it rip. Obviously, it didn't work out."
New England Patriots
-- Even though no Super Bowl loser has returned to the championship game since the 1993 Bills, Ryan believes the Falcons will be back: "I think everybody is going to be really hungry to get back there. Because, the one thing that I'm proud of, we have a young team, and we were ready to play. We played well. We were right in the mix. We fell a little bit short, but we should have every bit of confidence that we are going to be right back there next year getting a different outcome because we're going to be more experienced."