Bengals’ Zac Taylor: ‘I’ve got a lot of respect’ for Falcons

On linebacker Joe Bachie’s 21-day window being activated: “He’s been doing a great job over there on the rehab field. And, obviously, he’s a guy that really stepped up for us last year when we needed him. So we’re glad to get him up and running and see what he’s about. See where it fits, you know, this week or over the next couple of weeks.”

On faster starts because of the way Atlanta tries to win the time of possession: “It would help, but they have done a great job of playing from behind as well. Some of the games they’ve lost they’ve fought their way back. (It was) 28-3 against the Rams, and they came back and had the ball down 31-27. Tampa Bay had them about 21-0 in the third quarter. They came back, it’s 21-15. Tampa’s got to convert a third down to win the game. Those are two of their losses, and then the last loss they had Week 1, you know the field goal that was short at the very end on the last play the game. So, very similar to us in terms of how their games (have) played out. I’ve got a lot of respect for how they’re playing football right now. They’re doing a great job on offense, being efficient in the passing game, pounding the run game at people. It’s really a blend of multiple systems. To turn into one really finely tuned system that Arthur’s (Smith) put together. ... I’m seeing so many things that Marcus Mariota has done since his college days, and he’s really excelled at it. Then you see the 22, 13 personnel stuff that you saw from Tennessee. They’ve matched all the play-actions from Tennessee and San Francisco, and all that kind of stuff is blending. ... So it’s really a blend of systems that they’ve turned into the Atlanta system. And it really, really makes it tough on your defense. They’ve done a good job operating there.”

On how Mariota evolved: “I think he’s just doing what he does best. He’s making quick decisions. He can throw from any body angle, you know, off these different play-action looks they get. He’ll lull you to death running zone runs, and then he’ll pull one out and run for a touchdown. When (you’ve) kind of gotten used to him handing the ball off over and over again. Late in the game, he had a 20-yard run last week that kind of takes the wind out of your sails when he pulls one out on the zone read against San Francisco. He was 13 of 13. His only incompletion was the last pass of the game. San Fran just did a good job of matching the routes on third-and-5, and he pretty much just threw it away. Being smart there on the plus-40. So, he went 13 of 14. That’s an impressive day considering how they ran it. How he ran it. He’s got three games where he’s run for over 50 yards. He’s playing on a really high level, and he’s doing exactly what they need them to do on offense. They’ve got really good weapons with Drake London and Kyle Pitts, the way their offensive line is playing, and those backs, the way they’re utilizing those guys. It’s just a really, really, really finely tuned offense that they’ve got going on right now.”

On playing teams that want to run the clock: “You’ve just got to maximize your possessions. You know that the points per drives is going to be critical. We had eight possessions last week and in probably around there against Baltimore. So, we played these styles of games before. This is nothing new to us. Again, we can’t afford to kind of do what we’ve done and get down 10 points and try to fight our way back. That’s not the best way to play football. We’ve got to be more efficient early in the game.”

On the 2021 draft when they were behind Atlanta, with the Bengals picking at 5 and the Falcons at 4: “I don’t know why we maybe felt like they were taking Kyle Pitts. We thought that’s what they were doing. I’m sure Penei Sewell was in the mix. Ja’Marr (Chase) was in the mix. Maybe we thought they could have traded out of it. I don’t really remember, to be honest with you. It seems like so long ago. But I remember going to Kyle Pitts’ pro day, and it was as impressive as you can see, you know, and he did a great job doing all the things they can do. They use him in the run game. He’ll put his nose on people and block, and then all of sudden they are in 13 and he’s the one running routes down the field. He’s run daggers. He’s run drifts. He’s run rail routes out of the backfield. They use him everywhere you can. He’s the outside receiver. He’s the single receiver in a one by three. He’s the outside receiver in a three by one. He’s the outside receiver (in) a two by two. He’s number three in a three by one (formation). He’s everywhere. He’s at fullback. He’s a real weapon with great speed and great torque and body control and hands. So, he really had the game-winning touchdown last week against San Francisco. They ran play-action; he’s on the backside one-on-one on slant and wins. So, they’ve got a lot of good weapons, and they do a good job utilizing those guys.”

On Pitts and Chase: “They’re rare players at their position. There’s not a lot like them. You know like Ja’Marr and Kyle. Those guys are two that just happened to be a back to back in the same draft or it’s not every year where you have a receiver or a tight end like this. So, when you get them, you gotta find ways to maximize their potential and stress the defense. He’s a tough guy to defend, and especially when they mix them up in the run game, so he’s not just a receiver; they don’t just utilize them as a receiver. They get 13 (personnel), and he blocks ... that makes it a little more difficult to account for him sometimes because they utilize him off the play actions that way.”

On turnovers: “You know, we always count how many times we’re pounding at the ball regardless of the team that we play against. And that’s always been a big point of emphasis. There have been games where we’ve gotten them out after the whistle, you know; we’re real close. You need to win the turnover battle in games like this one where the possessions may be limited. When the ball is in the air, if you can get some tips and overthrows, you have to capitalize on those. ... Atlanta is maybe plus-two right now in their turnover battle, so they’ve done a good job on takeaways; they got a fumble return for a touchdown early in the game last week that put them up 14-0. So that’s important. They’ve fed off of that recently. There’s been games we’ve really fed off that. That’s going to be a critical point in this game, who’s going to win the turnover battle.”

On how much time they use to prepare for the backup quarterback and what he’d expect to see if Desmond Ridder comes into the game: “There’s a reason they’ve got Desmond and Marcus. Their style of offense would be very similar. Desmond can beat you with his feet as well as his arm. They’re both really smart quarterbacks. It’s really a pretty good one-two combo as you look at how they’ve positioned their quarterback room. It’s two guys that are in the same family of skill sets. I’ve got a lot of respect for both of those guys. They both have played really great football over their careers, relatively speaking.”

On linebacker Logan Wilson: “He won’t practice today.”

On what the Falcons’ defense looks like on tape: “97 (Grady Jarrett) jumps out at you, 97 jumps out at you. He’s a premier player. To imagine him and D.J. Reader playing next to each other at Clemson, I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’... It’s just unbelievable. But it’s a defense that really plays in sync. They’re a really gritty, tough defense, scrappy defense. You know, that gives them different looks. They do a good job with their disguises and some of the pressures they bring in, some of the different coverage variations they play. ... I know they have got an injury at corner with (Casey) Hayward, but these other guys have played. Darren Hall they played. 34 and 37 (Dee Alford), they’ve gotten a lot of reps this year, and so I think it’s a defense that you see improving every week. They’re doing a good job playing complementary ball with their offense and special-teams unit. Dean Pees has done this for a long time. I remember playing against them in Baltimore, and I just have a lot of respect for the unit that he puts out there on the field. How prepared they are and how hard they play. They take advantage of every opportunity that you give them. We have to really be on point on offense.”

For more content about the Atlanta Falcons

Follow me on Twitter @DorlandoAJC

On Facebook at Atlanta Falcons News Now

On Instagram at DorlandoLed

Atlanta Falcons coverage on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Bow Tie Chronicles

Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule

Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26

Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27

Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23

Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20

Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15

Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14

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