Coach Smith: ‘I liked the way that we played’

Here’s a snippet of Falcons coach Mike Smith addressing the media after the 34-20 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.

Opening statement:

I thought that was an outstanding football game. That was a very explosive offensive football team. [The] No. 1 team in the National Football League and I thought our guys, to go out and hold them to no touchdowns in the first half was very, very big. I liked the way that we played. Our players executed the game plan on both sides of the ball. I thought that we were very proficient in our special teams as well. I thought they bounced back very, very well. There is a lot of stuff that we’ll have to check on the tape and make sure that we get it corrected. But all in all this is another step in the process for our football team. This is just week 10 and next week is going to be week 11.

Q. Coach, could you talk about the play of your secondary today?

A. Our thought going into it, was that we didn’t want to give up explosive plays. This is the team that leads the National Football league in explosions, 20-yard plays, as well as 40-yard plays. I thought we did a nice job.

We got a lot of pressure on the quarterback. We got him off the spot. Our guys had to play coverage for a long time in terms of [Saints quarterback] Drew [Brees] being able to improvise and extend plays. But I thought they did a nice job. His efficiency quarterback rating, I don’t know that he was up to what he usually does. They threw for a lot of yards, but it was a good effort by our secondary.

Q. Could you talk about how they were digging balls out and breaking up passes?

A. I thought most all passes were contested. There were very few open receivers. I thought they had a good understanding going into the game of how they were going to attack us. I thought Domonique Foxworth played well. Chevis Jackson having a 95-yard interception for a touchdown was a big play. Chris Houston having the interception in the end zone and then I thought with the first play of the game [Erik Coleman’s interception] we were able to steal a possession right there. I think that was big. That’s a team that I don’t think you want to give them a whole lot of offensive opportunities because they are very, very potent.

Q. Could you talk about Matt [Ryan’s] play, particularly early on when he was so accurate?

A. He was very accurate there in the first half. I thought he threw some great timing routes out in the flat to our wide receivers. I think he made a heck of a play on a bootleg when they had a linebacker blitzing off the edge. He was able to avoid him and get the pass to Justin Peelle. I thought that was a big play. Like always, there are plays in that football game, where we are going to have to do better. We’re going to have to make corrections. They are a lot easier to correct when you have a win.