INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after the 31-27 loss to the Rams on Sunday:
On players fighting toward the end of the game: “Yeah, our guys do (fight). Obviously, it wasn’t perfect, and we need to break through, but the one thing about our guys, no matter what has happened, you’ve got a chance until the last play to go win it, and we’ll continue to grow. Certainly, you go through these things. It’s painful to lose like that. And now one possession, but we had the right mindset, we’ll grow and we’ll get better. And we got a lot of football ahead of us. And we got another big challenge next week. But these guys, they fight, they’re resilient. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect, but I was really proud of these guys. A lot of the young guys, right, you just never give up on it. Even when it looks like they converted with (wide receiver Cooper) Kupp on the one, be able to punch the ball out, the block punt, all the big plays, knowing you’re never out of the fight. And we had a chance at the end. And, obviously, they made a play down there and even so, we got off the field and at least had a shot at a Hail Mary.”
On the performance of tight end Kyle Pitts: “Kyle’s a huge part of our offense, and the thing is, you just have to take it with context. It’s the same thing we’re trying to win, and he has a huge impact on the game. And, so, that’s a really good front and certainly probably the most dominant interior pass rusher in the last decade. And, so, when you’re sitting there using different things to try to stay on track because the guy can be a nightmare and Kyle is such an important piece, and we go after him or he is targeted and other guys made plays. So, you know, it was like a perfect example. You targeted him on one and if they cover him or they account for him, then (KhaDarel) Hodge comes in there and makes a big play. It happened a few times, things like that. It’s not fantasy football. We’re just trying to win, and we’ll continue to look at everything and try to get better.”
On using different defensive personnel rotations throughout the game: “Well, I think it’s important. We got a lot of guys that can help us. And, like I said, it’s a long season. I mean, it’s not where we want to be. We’ve seen progress, and we’re certainly not celebrating moral victories, but some of these guys need to play. We need to use everybody because it’s a long season. And when you’re able to play more guys, then you can create more packages and put 48 guys up. You want everybody to have a job.”
On whether taking safety Jaylinn Hawkins out of the game, replacing him with safety Dean Marlowe for the second half has to do with Hawkins’ performance: “No, it’s not that; it’s just some things are working, and (I) felt that sometimes you may arrange a rotation, you go with a hot hand. It’s nothing against Jaylinn. We got a lot of good players. I know you have to ask those things, but we value versatility, and we roll a lot of guys through, same thing on offense. Like I said, we’re not playing fantasy football, we’re playing to try to win a game. And that’s a challenge, that’s a good football team, and (Matthew) Stafford does a good job. And you know, especially, (he) made some really nice throws, and (you’re) trying to pick your poison. You come after him, he can make you pay, and if you keep it in front of him, they bled it out. I mean, it was a pretty fast game until the last quarter.”
On what he took away from failing to score on the drive after the interception in the first half: “We took the shot, right? And got the penalty and you’re right on the fringe of field-goal range, and we had a miscommunication on one over there we have to get cleaned up. And that third-down one, the ball … it’s just the way it bounces sometimes. We’ll continue to go after (running back) CP (Cordarrelle Patterson) every time, and he’ll make that play next time.”
On QB Marcus Mariota’s performance: “Well, take it in context. I mean, some of the stuff wasn’t necessarily his fault. He made enough plays and gave us a chance, right? He had two touchdown passes today? The one interception, I mean, the way the ball bounced off CP, and then the one at the end … it’s (cornerback) Jalen (Ramsey) over the top, you got a chance on that. There’s things we’ll look at and clean up, but he’s operating pretty well for us right now.”
On how they ended up in a hole in the first half: “I mean, that’s your mindset. It’s the thing you have to understand is like wrong. I mean, it’s more like things you have to clean up. It’s not like some tragedy. I mean, it’s a four-quarter game. There’s things we have to clean up. Some of the communication is a little bit louder down there. You know, we anticipated, we have to clean some of the pre-snap stuff up. I mean, that’s the stuff, take the first drive, what do we have, one punt? ... I mean, the clock went pretty good. And then they were trying to run the ball. We started to stay on track. First drive we came away with nothing. I believe we had the penalty and then the miscommunication that let (linebacker Bobby) Wagner free, and it’s like a combination of bad events, and we missed a kick. We’ll look to clean up.”
On how the Rams made big plays after starting with short completions: “I mean, just pick your poison. A lot of things underneath and lot of intermediate routes to Kupp and you’re playing on top. That’s what happens when you’re playing against one of the better quarterback-receiver tandems in the league, and they do a good job. And so, obviously, we didn’t make enough plays, but the game plan gave us enough and guys kept grinding out and we had a shot. We had our shot twice. We had a shot in the red zone that got picked by Ramsey and then a Hail Mary.”
On how going 3 for 10 on third downs and 50% in the red zone and how much those stats matter: “Yeah, they matter. I mean (we) went for it on fourth down, right? So that one, you take it with a grain of salt there. We miss the third down, you let the drive continue. They got the pick on the one ,and then I believe it was third-and-13 wasn’t it, so that’s two of (them) right there. I mean, always, right? You want to be better on third down, red zone in the first drive. You (got to) give (them) credit, but like I said, there’s things we (got to) clean up, and we will.”
On how encouraging it is to play draft picks and young guys: “Yeah, it’s a lot of our young guys, (wide receiver) Josh (Ali). I know everybody focuses on draft picks, but you know, (defensive tackle) Timmy Horne is out there grinding, we (have) guys in there coming along … it’s everybody. Guys made plays late and gave us a shot.”
On putting wide receiver Drake London in a position to play as well as he is right now: “(Inaudible) … it’s why we took him. We had a lot of conviction about the player. He’s not perfect. There (are) things that we (got to) clean up with him, but if they’re going to sit there and pack the middle, so focused on what’s on the run or (tight end) Kyle (Pitts), and we move Kyle around, that’s how we got the shot late and they grabbed him. I mean, excuse me, before the half, and continued to move Kyle around, but they gave us some access over there, so pick your poison. He’s a big physical player. He’ll continue to get better.”
On if that was what they were envisioning when they drafted him: “Absolutely.”
On how blocking the Rams’ punt changed the game for the Falcons: “It’s a lot in the pro football game, when you got two good teams that are swinging. The thing I was proud about our guys, and obviously we need to win, but you get on the road like this (with) a team that we knew were going to give their best shot and they were focused. They were dialed in. They made sure they were very protective of (quarterback) Matthew (Stafford), and they had a good plan. The focus gave us an opportunity and (linebacker) Troy’s (Andersen) an explosive athlete. He got there in a hurry, and we did a good job picking the ball up and scoring. And we went for two, which puts more pressure on you, right? You kind of feel like, hey, you’re down 14, went for two. Marcus did a hell of a job keeping that play alive. Now the pressure’s all in the play caller coming back. Now you’re only up six. They know a touchdown wins it. They convert the third down, you’re never out of the fight, (cornerback) Darren (Hall) popped it up, I believe, and then we put together a little bit of (a) string of plays, and they picked us on third down.”
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Atlanta Falcons 2022 NFL schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 at Seattle, 4:25 p.m.
Oct. 2 vs. Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Oct. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Oct. 16 vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.
Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
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