The Falcons appeared to be surging to their first Super Bowl win after leading 28-3, only to see New England roar back to triumph, 34-28, in overtime.
"There's nothing you can really say," said a dejected Ryan. "That's a tough loss.
"Obviously very disappointed, very close to getting done what we wanted to get done, but it's hard to find words tonight."
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn summed up the mood: "For sure hurts like hell."
It was the second time in two years Quinn has tasted an agonizing Super Bowl defeat to the Patriots. He was an assistant coach for the Seattle Seahawks when the Patriots snatched a dramatic late win in 2015.
Quinn admitted the Falcons would struggle to deal with Sunday's loss.
"No doubt that was a tough one for us," Quinn said. "That's a hard one in the locker room. No one place to put that mentally for us.
"But I'm proud of the fight that these guys have," added Quinn, admitting that his team "ran out of gas some" in the second half.
"I think at the end, when we go back and watch it tomorrow, for sure, there were things that we could have done different or played differently.
"I was impressed with how hard the guys fought and battled for it. That's why we're hurting so bad right now."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
