Falcons’ Arthur Smith: ‘This one stings’

CHARLOTTE -- Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after the 9-7 loss to the Panthers on Sunday:

On what he said to the team: “Obviously, we didn’t do what we needed to do coming in here. It wasn’t for lack of effort. We didn’t make enough plays. Didn’t do a good enough job getting them ready. So, they hung around and we turned the ball over late. You do that, you’ll lose. So, this one stings. We have to get…find a way. We’ve got to get back in the win column. Not the result we expected.”

On conditions and turnovers: “We put them ….the turnover, sudden change. They did bail us out. We held them to three. Made some plays. Came back. The helmet, from my perspective, with Bijan getting out there, the ball popped out. Was trying to play the wind. The conservative approach didn’t play out for us. So, when we took the drive after they made it 7-6, had the long drive there and we had the interception.”

On if he was too conservative today: “That’s fair. When you only score seven points, we’re trying to play the wind. There was a lot going on down there. The wind and rain, the ball being on the ground twice. Some issues that we were trying to negate in the protection. That’s certainly a fair criticism.”

On critical errors: “It’s on all of us. Whether if it’s, blame me. Blame the turnovers. As a team, we’ve got to make those plays. We didn’t do that. That’s the momentum shift right there. You’re in scoring position at worst, hoping to get a field goal. Changes what you have got to defend because the dynamics are completely different, but that’s not what happened.

On Ridder’s interception: “He was trying to make a play. Obviously, he’d be the first to tell you that he wishes he could have it back. That’s not what happened.”

On if he has to change his message to the team: “The message is obviously different every week. When you are coming off two close losses like that in the division, it certainly changes things in the (last) eight days. We still have three more. We’ve got to find a way. (There’s) a lot going on. We did it to ourselves. We have to get back in there and find a way to beat Indy.”

On improvement this season: “We still have some football to play. In a lot of areas, you feel like (you have improved). That’s where we at right now, coming off those two losses it doesn’t feel that way. In the short-term, we’ve had opportunities. There has been a lot of improvement in other areas. Coming off two losses, it’s hard to say. I don’t feel good about anything.”

On the injuries along both lines: “Part of it was the weather. Part of it was the personnel. (We were) trying to negate some of the stuff. Some it was not really traditional …a lot of the passing downs. That’s where we were trying to play the weather, the wind, all the different scenarios. Obviously, it didn’t work out for us. But there were a lot of things we were trying to protect to make sure that (Derrick) Brown and (Brian) Burns didn’t wreck the game, but like I said, you turn the ball over twice and don’t get any takeaways, among other things and we have to score more than seven.”

On the making changes for the last three games: “We’ve done a lot of different things. It’s just a team effort. We’ve had games where David’s punched it into the quarterback and games where I have. Nothing that we do that we don’t collaborate with. There’s not anybody going rogue and getting rid of the plan. But ultimately what’s called on special teams, defense, or offense, That’s on me as the head coach.”

On the lack of consistency: “Every scenario is different. You look at the last two weeks. Last week was a completely different story than this week. That’s what we are trying to eliminate. Been trying all season. The thing that hurt us the most clearly is the turnovers. That’s not going to change in the NFL. The turnover margins…that’s been …a lot of things you can pick apart, but certainly that the one that has hurt us.”

On putting the ball in Ridder’s hand with the game on the line: “I respect the question. You’re trying to just get out of the pocket. We had been so (run) heavy and you’re trying to call a movement keeper. Thinking worst case, he’ll take off. Obviously, there are a lot of things you’re going to second-guess yourself with. That’s not a shot at him because it’s on all of us and it certainly starts with me. In theory, we were not trying to drop back there. That wasn’t what we were trying to accomplish.”

On if he’s seen enough from Ridder after 16 starts (equivalent to an old season; teams now have 17-game regular seasons): “Coming off that lost. Obviously, it didn’t end the way we wanted. Wasn’t as productive as we wanted. Been some good moments, but obviously, we not satisfied. Really not happy with what’s gone on the last two games. Still got life. We have got to find a way to fix some of these issues. Indy is coming in next week. A lot of crazy things can happen, but those last two do sting. We had our opportunities regardless of the score, we still had leads in both. Didn’t get it done though.”

On if he believes he’s the right coach for the Falcons: “I think in any job you take, you’ve got to have self-belief. There’s a cycle of it. There are consequences when you lose. There are natural questions. NFL 101. Job is to win games. There’s a lot of things….every situation is different…There are a lot of things we’ve dealt with early on. But ultimately, the job is to win games and get into the playoffs. We’ll still have that opportunity. It looks like a longshot, but each one of these years have been different. We’ve had three different teams. Different movement at some critical spots. At the end of the day, your job is to win. But I’ve got a ton of self-belief. Nobody should take a job that they don’t have belief in themselves, I can promise you that.”

On if he’s been told anything about his future: “We don’t (have) a State of the Union …everyday you go in there you do the best that you can at your job. That’s all you work on, improving and trying to win games.”

On if he plans to stay with Ridder for the rest of the season: “Yeah, that’s the plan, but nothing is ever set in stone. You’ve got to evaluate and adapt. The questions that you are asking about personnel. What you’ve got to do….we have to find a way. We need to win.”

On if there’s a quarterback on the roster he can win with: “We’ve had some good moments. Like I said, we’ll get back and evaluate everything. Make sure that we have the right plan. Make the right decision for the best for the team. What’s in the best interests for this team to win a game and get back in the win column.”

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