Sometimes, a time comes in a football game when the most useful thing a quarterback can do is throw a block. Sometimes, they do a great job, like Washington’s QB did the other night. Sometimes, they do what Mark Sanchez did that one time.
With the Falcons leading by two touchdowns with about two minutes left in the game, Matt Ryan found himself in between Falcons running back Devonta Freeman and 6’4, 308-pound Saints defensive tackle Nick Fairley. He squared up to make a big block but eventually decided to get the heck out of Fairley’s way and took a tumble while avoiding the big guy:
Ryan’s reaction to the dive was priceless:
We can and should make fun of Ryan: He looked pretty darn silly after his decision to back down from Fairley.
But of course, it was the smart call. Ryan’s arms and shoulders are pretty valuable, and it wasn’t worth hurling them into an extremely big, strong lineman for a block in a game that was pretty much already decided.
And besides — Freeman was able to outrun Fairley anyway.