Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after the win over the Colts:
On quarterback Taylor Heinicke’s performance and his ability to take care of the football: “Yeah, he kept the offense in rhythm. We wanted to be aggressive, and he certainly executed the plan. It helps, he’s got a lot of experience, and you could feel it, and we got into a lot of drives and a lot of guys contributed. I thought he did a phenomenal job today.”
On the defense having six sacks Sunday: “Yeah, it helps when you’ve got really smart players because the opening drive they converted the first third-and-long, and they got into a little no-huddle. there was a (defensive pass interference), and then they got the ball in there. A couple things tweaked in-game. I thought those guys, (defensive coordinator) Ryan (Nielsen) and (assistant head coach/defense) Jerry (Gray) and (secondary coach Steve Jackson) and the players started throwing different looks, made him hold it an extra tick, give or take, and the guys played really well up front.
“Same thing with situational football as a team. That’s been a thing that’s kind of stopped us a little bit, not handling end the half. When you defer, the middle eight, however you want to look at it, and we’re going to do that. We were able to get points right before. There was a minor clock issue, but we were going to run it, timeout. So, we had a kickoff which we didn’t want, but we got what we needed, and then came back and got the touchdown. That’s what you want. When you talk about doubling up, doubling possessions, that’s a 10-point swing, and that’s how you can win games if you can control those situations. Everybody was in tune in all three phases. It was a good team win.”
On the importance of the win in terms of potential playoff standing: “Well, you know how the season goes. Just the focus was we needed to get that win. You want to be relevant late in the year. Obviously, it’s good to win this time of year and be in it, and we’ve got to get ready – obviously tomorrow is Christmas and other things around the holiday season, but we’ve got to get back to work and get ready for Chicago.”
On whether they were intent on throwing the ball more early in the game: “Well, we’ve had games where we’ve tried that, too. It’s what they’re getting – sometimes it’s that first third down. It’s been our intent in a couple games. It may not have gone that way, but certainly when we were able to convert, stayed into the drive, stayed aggressive, and kind of mixed and matched throughout the game, I thought the guys did a great job, coaches and players.”
On whether today seemed like the most in-flow it has been all season: “Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, you want to get touchdowns late, but you also want to play the situations. So, the last two red-zone drives, you could say you got a little conservative, but you’re making them use timeouts. You wanted to be aggressive, but I didn’t want to – that’s the stuff that as a coach you wish you had had touchdowns there, but you’re playing the long game there, and you don’t pop a run.
“Still able to get points, but that’s something that we can continue to work on, but you’re right, when we needed a play, guys made them. It was different guys. I mean, the Jonnu (Smith) play on the screen, third-and-long, that keeps drives. That gets points on the board. There’s so many little plays right there. They started bringing a lot of pressure, and we make an adjustment to say, ‘Hey, when this happens, we’ve got to get outside.’ It’s the underrated things like Mack Hollins and KhaDarel Hodge gets the play started. Unfortunately, (offensive tackle) Jake (Matthews) went out. He could’ve come back in the game. We’ll have more on Jake Matthews later, but he could have come back in. But those are the plays that help you win, so it was a team effort. It’ll always be a team game. Proud I get to coach those guys.”
On shaving his mustache: “This one wasn’t impulsive. I had to change momentum, clean up – church myself up for the holidays. Should have had a jacket like Led’s got.”
On whether there’s anyway to compare joy versus relief: “That’s a great question. When you’re in the NFL, you’ve probably heard me say this, a lot of coaches, sometimes winning is a relief. But what’s been good is when you’re in these – you see the response from the team. That’s why you love this game, and it’s kind of refreshing. Sometimes you go back and you kind of think of things, and obviously you don’t want to lose that joy, so I would say it’s more joy, but certainly sometimes it can feel like relief, and you don’t want to lose that perspective. I think that’s been a great thing is that perspective, and there’s certainly a lot of joy in that locker room, and for myself personally, for those players. It’s not about me. It’s about the players and the staff and the organization and the fans out here today. They were phenomenal.”
On what it means to have a lot of family at the game today: “Yeah, they show up, and they’re huge Falcons supporters, as are a lot of people in the crowd. At least they didn’t go the other way. At least they still showed up. It would be a bad thing if your family stops texting or calling you or doesn’t show up.”
On clarifying where he felt Heinicke’s experience the most on the field: “Just everything. There’s a lot of reps, as we’ve talked about before. It’s a tough position to play. Even the little things like the subjectivity of – when you’re in that situation before the half, all you’re doing there is you’re just trying to get time off there, and you can take a shot, but nobody is going to give you that. You can throw a Hail Mary but that’s probably not – or you can get maybe 10 more yards, give or take. Nobody is going to heat you up right there. So just trying to end the half with the field goal, but him being aware, never realized the clock was set, but when a vet looks up, he knew it, that that’s what you want, and you just play the long game. Only thing that was different, we had to kick off and then they went for the kneel. But just the presence of mind, just being in all those situations, understanding, ‘Hey, check-downs are good here.’ Seeing what they’re playing, coming back. You don’t need to be greedy here. Those are a veteran thing. That’s not a shot at any young player, but that’s what helps.”
On only having two three-and-outs and how critical it was to get Heinicke in a rhythm early: “Yeah, any team I’ve been a part of, that’s the key to offense. A lot of times it’s that first third down. It’s funny how energy and momentum work. As cliche as that sounds, but it’s true, you get in those drives, and it’s the difference sometimes. You get stalled out on one and then maybe they score, and it just may take forever to get the ball back, but it just keeps the energy up, and those guys did a good job today.”
On how this win helps build confidence moving forward into the final two games of the season: “Yeah, you know, I think you see the way these guys play every week. I’ve had a ton of confidence all year. I had a ton of confidence going into this game, and just the way we worked all week because you can feel it. Sometimes you feel – the teams I’ve been on, sometimes you can start to feel people look to the other side or – but this team, you see the energy we had all week, and it’s given me a lot of confidence all year.”
On safety Jessie Bates III setting a new single-season career high with six interceptions: “Very happy for him. You want to make sure – you add guys, and guys that may not have been here to get that contract, but you’ve got to have the right guys. There’s always risk in every move you make. We’re very confident. We had a lot of carryover, Steve Jackson out of Cincinnati. Steve is one of the best, most honest people I’ve ever worked with. I’ve been with some people that have kind of pumped people up – and then the scouting that goes into it, and it really is about fit, chemistry, about what you want to do schematically. If you don’t have a plan for that, then you’re not going to give them the best chance to be successful. Jessie has come in here, and he’s a terrific football player, clearly, and a great teammate and just very fortunate we were able to get him.”
On the defense holding opposing running backs without a rushing touchdown until today and what that means about the unit: “They’ve been stout against the run. Sometimes in certain coverages some teams get to check, so they pick the ball up more if you’re showing lighter – it’s kind of become a common thing in the NFL. So, that’s the game you’re playing, so sometimes you see teams that – depending on what we’re playing, they try to check the pass. So, it’s a combination of a lot of things. They bowed up and we haven’t given a lot of explosive runs all year, been really good in the red zone, and then today, situation, like I said. The offense, defense, special teams all playing momentum off each other.”
On using a timeout after the spike with 10 seconds remaining in the half: “Yeah, because we were just going to run it, or we were going to run like a sprint-out just to milk the clock. That’s what I’m saying, there’s a miscommunication about the play being set, and that’s why there was no -- why they were still in the huddle, and that’s where Taylor had the advantage, that I’m asking to pump it, never set it, and – I’m not criticizing. I promise you I’m not trying to get fined, so this isn’t a criticism, I’m just letting you know what happened. So, the risk-reward there as to why even have a – certainly wanted to take the five-yard penalty. That’s what happened. But we were just going to run it, or we had talked about doing the sprint-out, call it a long foul ball, just so we could kick the field goal and not have to kick off. That was all that was going on. I’ve got to do a better job of not showing my frustration.”
On what Christmas will look like for his family: “Well, it’ll be better now, I guess. The kids are fired up. It’ll be a joyful morning to spend with the kids.”
On what it’s been like having a tight division race again this season: “It’s every year. You know what it looks like sometimes at Thanksgiving, can certainly change the middle of December. That’s what makes this league so fun to be a fan of. It’s the most competitive professional league in the world in my opinion. So, week to week, everything changes. At the end of the day, when you get caught up in – you obviously want to control your own destiny, and if you can’t, obviously you need help, but nothing matters if you don’t take care of your own games, so it was a step in the right direction getting this win today.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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