As soon as the lockout lifted, Matt Ryan was traded for the #1 overall pick in my 14-team, 5-keeper fantasy football league. Football is back! I’m not endorsing the trade (there were also seven or eight more picks involved for a borderline ridiculous transaction). I’m just excited it happened.

Oh, Matt Ryan. 13-3*. That gaudy home record. More winning seasons in a row than ever in Atlanta. That ridiculous nickname**. All for naught.

How cool would it have been to see a QB sporting 2 win the BCS Championship and the Lombardi Trophy in the same year? Cooler than cool (Ice cold, Matt. Ice cold).

Now we’re left rooting for Nick Folk and/or Mason Crosby to boot their way into the Super Bowl.

*That’s one more win than Ryan predicted. He won’t get any credit for that, but, hey, it’s got to be worth something.

**Via Chitwood and Hobbs, via The Sports Guy’s Twitter: “I have a new nickname for Matt Ryan: ‘Matt.’ “

Matt Ryan has won 11 and 9 games in his two seasons after being picked third overall by the Falcons and subsequently tagged as the future of the franchise and simultaneously regarded as the Band-Aid stuck onto the wound left from the denouement of Michael Vick’s career in Atlanta.

This season, Ryan thinks the Falcons are set for 12 or 13 wins, which would mean a tussle with the Saints for the division crown, a playoff spot, and some potential home games in the postseason.