Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith said after the 43-3 beatdown in Dallas:
On where it started to unravel: “Credit to the Cowboys. We didn’t do hardly anything well. We didn’t play well as a team, clearly. Obviously, the second quarter…I’ve got to do a better job of getting them prepared. Clearly we weren’t prepared coming in here and we got avalanched in the second quarter and never recovered.”
On why he feels like he didn’t do a good enough job of getting them prepared: “Did you see the game? It falls on me. I’ve got to get this team ready to go. We’re lucky it only counts as one. We’ve got to turn around. We’ve got to play a really good New England team that’s on a roll in our home stadium on Thursday, so that’s why I feel that way. When you score three points and you give up 43, it’s a pretty bad day at the office, but you’ve got to credit the Cowboys. Like I said, we were outcoached and outplayed.
On his vantage point on the fourth down when they went for it: “We wanted to be aggressive coming in here, so where we were, it was going to be a long kick. I know it was fourth-and-seven, but looking at it at that point of the game, we knew what kind of offense we were playing on the other side, so I made a decision to be aggressive. Obviously, hindsight’s 20-20. Clearly, we didn’t convert. We didn’t get anything on third down, nor the fourth down. That’s kind of where momentum swung the other way.”
On what he said at halftime: “To see if we can fight. Like I said, the third quarter, whatever it was, malaise back-and-forth, threw a couple of picks. You’ve got to credit them. Tried to force a thing here or there and then we got a couple of turnovers, and it was pretty much, we know we’ve got to play, Thursday, and you saw a heavy dose of Rosen and Gallman and those other guys. When we realized there were not enough possessions left in the game to win, we knew we’ve got to get ready to play, Thursday, so that’s why a lot of those decisions were made.”
On trying to explain Matt Ryan’s performance today other than it being just one of those days: “We started out, I thought we had a pretty good rhythm. Obviously, we stalled out there on the third-and-seven, fourth-and-seven, then we had two quick three-and-outs. And it’s all eleven of us. We’ve got to get open versus man coverage, we’ve got to protect, and he’s obviously got to deliver the football. So, I think you can blame it on the whole team, blame it on the play calling. Whatever it is, it’s the whole team and that’s what happened.”
On comparing this to the week one loss against the Eagles. He said it kind of got away from them; he didn’t like the feeling on the sideline in the second half. Did he see any of that today? “No, like I said, in the second quarter, we just got avalanched and we never recovered. But I didn’t see anybody give up. The one thing I didn’t like at the end – and I addressed it on the sideline, and I’ll address it again tomorrow – when you’re in a kneel down situation, I don’t like all of that back-and-forth. Look, they kicked our butt. Take it fair-and-square. I don’t want to see that. That’s been addressed on the sideline and it will be addressed again, tomorrow.”
On how difficult it will be to reboot on a short week: “It’s not going to be difficult. This is the NFL. These guys have got a lot of pride. It’s pro football. Certainly, we welcome the challenge and the opportunity. We’ve got a good team coming in, Thursday.”
On if there was any hangover on the way they won last week: “You would certainly hope not. You can make that argument. Again, that falls on me. I didn’t get the team ready to go, so you come off a big win, you’d like to think that doesn’t have an effect, but I can’t speak to that. It didn’t change my preparation. I thought we had a pretty good week but, like I said, the way the game started, and then, really, that second quarter, it’s hard to argue otherwise. Again, that starts with me.”
On how important the four three-and-outs in the second and third quarter that started with a loss or no gain on first down were: “Early down success is huge. The first play of the game, we had Kyle on a crossing route for a pretty big play. Get going, there. Obviously, stalled out. We kicked the field goal, drive right back down. That’s when we decided to be aggressive, there. We had two more drives; we didn’t do anything on first down. We got a penalty on one of them and it just kind of got away from us. We’ve got to do a better job. Look at what went wrong, why it went wrong, what can I call better the next time. Everything is taken into account.”
On why there were so many issues on third down today: “It was both sides of the ball. They converted some third downs. They converted a lot of fourth downs, too. Didn’t feel that, early. I didn’t think we did a good enough job. I’ve got to watch the tape and see what happened. Why we weren’t getting open but from the sideline, a snap judgement, we didn’t do a good enough job of getting open, protecting, you name it.”
On if he’ll look at making changes to some of the starters after today: “I think every week it’s always on the table. Clearly, we’ve been aggressive. We’ve played a lot of different guys this season. Everything’s on the table. That’s every week, win or lose. We’ve got to look at this one, we’ve got to turn the page really quick because Thursday night will be here fast.”
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Bye Week
Next four games
Patriots at Falcons, 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18
Falcons at Jacksonville, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28
Tampa Bay at Atlanta, 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 5
Atlanta at Carolina, 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12
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