Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after the 27-24 win over the Bears on Sunday:
Opening statement: “Just (a) couple things here before we get started, just getting the obvious out of the way. We won’t have an update on TQ (Ta’Quon Graham). I know he got carted off, but until we get the imaging, we won’t know. Kyle (Pitts), same thing, we won’t have an update, have to get the imaging, obviously get the opinions. That usually takes 24, 48 hours; we’ll see where those guys are at (Monday) through Tuesday and up until Wednesday’s practice. Other than that, I thought it was a really good job (by) our guys, good team win. Overcame some adversity, some of it our own doing in the first half and kept swinging. Really happy for CP (Cordarrelle Patterson). Pretty cool when a guy breaks an NFL record. We obviously needed that play, so it was a great team win.”
On whether the kickoff return ignited both units: “It was a huge play; the way the game had gone, they’d stolen a possession. Avery (Williams) is a huge part of this team. Guys fight for actual yards, got to be smart, know when the journey is over. He was trying to get extra yards. We got to be smarter there. They were able to get the ball back, CP (Patterson), we cut back, had a big run. They made an effort play; ball came out and they capitalized. That game could have gone another way, but it says a lot about our guys, gave them the opportunity. We felt close ... on some returns and big-time play by the return unit and by CP. "
On the importance for the defense to close out the game on the Bears’ final offensive drive: “That’s a give-and-take, and it’s a real credit to our defensive staff and the defense to execute that plan. We knew what they were going to try to do, and they hit a couple. We were going to make them earn it the hard way. We didn’t let Justin (Fields) get loose on any big runs. Guys tackled well for the most part. They have a good physical football team. It’s the NFL, but we weren’t going to sit there and hand them things, and our guys really executed the plan well. Tackled well, physical, got to the quarterback. It was give-and-take. Got a couple sacks. He got out of a couple, but the eight-minute drive, credit to them, you got to cover for a long time when you put a rush plan like that. It was a heavyweight fight, two teams that are physical, and thankfully we were able to grind them out. Big game for (Younghoe) Koo. A lot of guys felt like it had been four weeks since we had played. So glad to come back and get a win at home.”
On the importance of keeping Fields under 100 rushing yards: “Like I said, we weren’t going to hand them anything. We weren’t going to turn our back and hand them anything. We were going to make them earn it, and like I said, Dean (Pees) and his staff, great job, and really, credit to the players. They’re the ones out there executing. Hats off to those guys, and we were fortunate enough to get to coach a group of guys like this that just put their head down and work. They play well as a team. It’s an unselfish team. Glad to get that win.”
On whether he thought continuously hitting Fields affected him near the end of the game: “Run him that many times and he’s a running back when he does that: Guys tackle, keep it in front of you, make sure, again, turn their back it wasn’t on one person. It’s team defense. I think any team you get like that a lot of carries add up. Just like I said, I’m proud of the defense the way they executed the plan, and I think it certainly has an effect. Instead of giving one up for 70, if you make them go along the hard way, worked out in our favor.”
On how QB Marcus Mariota handled the week and Sunday’s game: “Like a lot of things, it’s easy to say all the right things, do all the right things when everything is going your way, but you find out a lot about people in adversity. Been through a lot the last couple of years, certainly for all of us. We wanted to get that taste out of our mouth. The last 10 days, like I said, felt like it’s been a month. It says a lot about his character. You’re going to find out a lot about people when their back is against the wall. Came out, I thought he executed the first drive really well, had a good rhythm, able to extend that play. They grabbed Kyle on it and able to extend that play to Drake (London). Showed a lot of guts, put his foot in the ground a few times, got us a touchdown going in. Thought he executed the two-minute drive well. Handed it off. Wasn’t perfect. Never is. But says a lot about his character, and it’s good to see that defensively, you guys didn’t really blitz much today.”
On what went into building the game plan to defend Fields: “You saw it. I mean, honestly, there’s give-and-take. There’s a lot of good coaches. That’s the fun part about this league. You try to take away people’s strengths, easier said than done. But nobody panicked, did their job. We got a physical football team. That’s what we think is our edge, we thought whoever was the most physical team today would win, and so thankfully that was us.”
On whether there is concern that Pitts’ and Graham’s injuries are long term: “I’m not trying to evade the question. I’ve been through this enough where you think you see a guy get carted off and he’s actually OK. You see a guy run off, and he’s done for a year. Until we get the imaging and kind of standard operating procedure now, guys are going to want to get opinions, and that’s great. That’s part of the NFL. I won’t have anything for you for 24, 48 hours.”
On Patterson playing more snaps this week than last week: “Yeah. Coming off 10 days. We had two games in five days. You don’t play for a month or so, you got two games in five days. We didn’t have that many offensive snaps anyway in Charlotte, got your rest. It’s a big stretch for us. It was a big win for us. Keeps us in it, and like I said, we’ll have a huge challenge going up to Washington. Thanksgiving week can be a distraction if we let it, and Washington has been playing really good football, so we got to make sure we’re ready to go.”
On what the offense did on the fourth-down play: “Which one? The one that CP converted? Yeah. You learn from previous mistakes. Obviously, defense had been on the field forever. Just the way the game went, right? You have a stolen possession is what I like to – I mean you fumble in a return game. That’s really the way somebody steals a possession or if at the end of the half or start of the half. That’s kind of the way that happens. The defense had been out there a long time, so both their offense and defense looked pretty tired, and you got to make those calls. That’s what I get paid to do and wouldn’t like our offense, they were going back and forth. Even CP, you know, he looked tired, but he dug deep and there was no stopping him when Marcus handed him that ball and we needed that play, and we got aggressive, figured they were going to pressure. They did. Tried to end it, and then Koo made the big kick.”
On C Drew Dalman getting pushed into Patterson and coming back with two blocks: “Sure. That’s the give-and-take. We hit him on the sneak early, so they were in there. They were all in there in that sneak front. We were trying to go around them. They got more penetration, and sometimes penetration doesn’t matter, you’re able to get the edge, but it stopped our feet, and that’s the NFL. There’s good players inside on both sides. They always have a say, too, people forget that, but go in there and get the fourth down and it’s a got to have it, and thankfully we got that.”
On the depth that the defensive interior has: “Well, it says a lot about us as a football staff. Our personnel, guys do a great job. They found players from everywhere, and if you got common vision and you don’t have a political staff where it doesn’t feel like Capitol Hill, you got a great group of people that can check their egos at the door, and part of our jobs as coaches is to be on the same page and develop guys, because it’s naturally going to happen in the NFL, you get to a game, and hopefully Kyle is all right, that’s what coaching is, you got to alter your plans, switch it on. MyCole Pruitt stepped up big time. There were little things, nuances in the game plan that he did that nobody will ever know, but that’s our job. That’s our job as coaching a football staff and a team, and our guys believe that. Whoever is out there, we got faith in.”
On whether it was intentional for the offense to avoid third downs: “It was kind of a byproduct of the way the game played out, like I said, they were on the field a lot in the first half, and we knew they were going to run the ball. It’s a fast game. I don’t know how many total snaps they had. I don’t have that on me. That’s give-and-take, you get the two turnovers, the turnover that happened after the punt return and the other one happened after the first play of the drive, so that had a lot to do with it as well.”
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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 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT
Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17
Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15
Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24
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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