Matt Ryan looked entirely crestfallen following his side's defeat at Super Bowl LI in Houston on Sunday.
The Atlanta Falcons let a 21-3 lead slip after half-time and in the final quarter allowed the New England Patriots to level the game. The first Super Bowl to ever go to overtime was seized upon by his counterpart - Patriots quarter-back, Tom Brady - and the comeback was complete.
Ryan looked on after the game and watched Brady be named Super Bowl MVP and hold aloft the Vince Lombardi trophy. Speaking to ESPN after the game, Ryan said his side "fell short" despite their good first-half display.
"There's no easy way to say it," he said. "It sucks.
"I thought we did a great job of getting ourselves prepared and ready to play. We came out firing tonight, but ultimately we couldn't finish the deal.
"We were close to what we wanted to achieve but ultimately we fell short... We'll bounce back though."
Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan is sacked by the New England Patriots defense during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 51 football game Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
The Falcons held a 16-point lead in the final quarter of the game and looked to be more aggressive with the ball and with just a yard to gain, fumbled and swung the momentum in favour of the Patriots.
Matt Ryan is SACKED.
And FUMBLES!@Patriots ball! #SB51 #Patriots https://t.co/o1lgQktgrI— NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2017
"In that play, we're playing aggressive to get the first down. I felt like throwing the ball in that situation was good for us. Collectively we didn't execute as well as we would have liked to. As players, we had opportunities. We had opportunities to make plays and in the end we didn't make them."
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