It’s the tag every sportsman dreads. For all the hard work and dedication, all the victories and adulation, one dreaded moment can earn you that most unwanted of labels: the bottlejob.
Somewhat harshly, the Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan is best known not for his consistency as a 14-year franchise quarterback, nor his brilliant MVP season of 2016, but rather the blowing of a 25-point lead against Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
Paradoxically, for a player nicknamed ‘Matty Ice’, he has previous this side of the Atlantic too. On his last visit to London seven years ago, the Falcons spurned a 21-0 lead against the Detroit Lions at Wembley in the most exhilarating of the 27 London games so far.