Matt Ryan, and the endless curse of 28-3

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“In-season, It’s once a week, because it’s every stadium I go into. Some unoriginal clown comes up and goes with the 28-3 line. It’s every week, in-season. During the off-season, it just depends if I’m back in New England or not.”

That’s what current Indianapolis Colts and former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan recently said about how often he’s reminded of the 28-3 lead Atlanta blew to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. New England won that game 34-28 in overtime, and 28-3 became an eternal meme forevermore.

You’d think that the Football Gods would allow one man to experience that score on the negative side just once in his great career.

You would be wrong.

Pardon us for being unoriginal clowns, but in the Colts’ 39-36 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, that particular score reared its ugly head twice more. The Vikings clinched the NFC North with the greatest comeback in NFL history, roaring back from a 33-0 halftime deficit.

Previously, the greatest comeback in NFL history belonged to the Buffalo Bills, who beat the Houston Oilers, 41-38, in overtime of the wild-card round of the 1992 season. The Bills’ comeback was 32 points, and they had to do it against an Oilers team that had a halftime lead of…

…you guessed it. 28-3. Also, Frank Reich was the winning quarterback for the Bills, and the Colts fired Reich as their head coach on November 7.

Now, fast-forward to Saturday’s game. Before the 64-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to running back Dalvin Cook, and the subsequent two-point conversion that tied the game at 36, the Vikings had mounted a comeback of…

…you guessed it. 28.3. They had scored four touchdowns in the second half before that one, and the Colts could manage just one field goal.

Sometimes, things seem pre-destined. In a case where Matt Ryan is on the field, and 28-3 is in play in any way, you can guess how things are going to go.

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