Falcons head coach: ‘Matt did a very good job’

Falcons head coach Mike Smith answers some questions following Sunday’s victory.

Q. How did the third play — the touchdown from Matt Ryan to Michael Jenkins — develop?

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Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

New Falcons head coach Mike Smith said of Matt Ryan, ‘It was a great way to see our rookie quarterback throw his first NFL pass.’

BY THE NUMBERS

• How They Scored
• Team Stats • NFC Standings

• Photos: Ryan's debut • Game
• Schultz: More than a win
• Bisher: Expectations met
• Turner burns record
• Smith: 'Matt did good job'
• INT saved game • DBs held ground

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A. We had talked about scripting the first 15 plays. Mike [Mularkey] and his staff do a wonderful job in putting together how we want to start the game. It really fell right into place. We got the look that we wanted to. Matt was able to deliver the ball and Michael caught the ball and ran it very well. It was something that we had talked about as to how we wanted to start the game. It was a great way to see our rookie quarterback throw his first NFL pass.

Q. How do you evaluate Ryan’s play Sunday?

A. He was very composed. Way, way back when we were doing our due diligence with [GM] Thomas [Dimitroff] and his staff, when we met with Matt, you knew this guy has something about him. He was very calm, cool and collected. We knew he had the skill set as far as throwing the football, running and operating an offense. I thought Matt did a very good job today.

Q. How big was Lawyer Milloy’s interception in the third quarter? The Lions could have gone in and scored to make it 21-21 at that point.

A. That’s probably the turning point in the game. They had gotten out beyond the 35 on the kickoff return. They were moving the football and Lawyer was able to intercept it and then get up and return it back to the plus side of the 50. At that point, we were able to get points off of that. The next time our offense had the ball, they were able to score. That was a 10-0 run which I thought was very pivotal in changing the game.