Falcons coach Arthur Smith: ‘We had our chances, and we didn’t get it done’

On whether he can run through the play-calling decisions on the final drive of the game: “With two timeouts. 20 seconds; right? Yeah. So they just dropped out of there and played shell coverage. So we had timeouts. The first one they bailed out, got some yardage. So they kind of packed the paint, so you’re trying to work the corner with one of them. Same thing. Just trying to get in there. You can still play the middle of the field, but they packed everybody in there. It was three-man rush, so we tried to hit a bench route. Same thing. Different combination into the boundary. So we get to five seconds when he got the ball out. Bijan, get the five seconds there. You can signal something. Otherwise, you’re in a hail mary, and so that’s kind of how it played out.”

On whether there was a consideration to go for a chunk-play on the final drive: “That’s what you’re trying to do. They just went drop, like soft shell. I mean, they’re going to basically give you underneath, and that’s the game you’re trying to play. I don’t know many people that would come after you on that one, but that’s what they were doing.”

On QB Taylor Heinicke’s performance and how he assesses the performance moving forward: “I mean, obviously he did turn the ball over, but I thought he operated on third down pretty well. So we’ll obviously huddle up and evaluate everything, but definitely he gave us some chances. He did make some plays on third down, but we did have a couple of penalties, but turnovers will always hurt you. We didn’t take full advantage of the ones we got, and that was a big swing after the Jonnu touchdown. Come back, and we fumbled. Led to their touchdown drive, and then we came back, and that was the one pick.”

On whether he’s naming QB Taylor Heinicke the starter for next week: “Not right now. We’ll just have to get back to evaluate it. I’m not going to give you some answer that we haven’t sat back and looked at everything.”

On the play calls on the goal line in the first half: “We were at the goal line and -- back then we were trying to get outside and didn’t. So we had the procedure, different play call there and got the procedure penalty. Moved us back. I believe that got us down to about the one. Just trying to get outside. It’s a play that he scored on before in the past, so it wasn’t like a giant leap of faith. Obviously, we didn’t get it done, but that was the thought. Trying to get outside because they moved their goal line front. They stunted the front, tried to bully up. It’s a thing that they’ve done. We didn’t get outside. Next one, same thing. We tried to take advantage and get Tyler to punch it in. It obviously didn’t happen. Obviously got to be better there.”

On the reason for TE Kyle Pitts not seeing the ball on the goal-to-go series in the first half: “Kyle is out there on the goal line. We had another call, but it’s just the look we got. He was out there on that series. He was in there in the goal line. The first play we got the penalty on, we got him in a look. Same personnel package we ended the game with when we scored. So, the first play we were in 21. He was not out there. It was Pru. Backed up; right? He was out there on the one that hit the screen. We had the look to Jonnu kind of on the one, and then we were on goal line personnel. Kyle was in there.”

On TE Kyle Pitts blocking on the goal line during the goal-to-go series in the first half: “We also have packaged plays. The way you push plays together. You’re on the one. They condense it, and they executed it better than we did. Obviously, in hindsight, yeah, that’s the thought. You know they’re going to stunt the front, so you’re trying to get outside, and we didn’t. We also have a look, depending on it, if you want to get into the pass. So that’s the old adage. Obviously, hindsight, we could have spread them out, but we didn’t, and we didn’t get it done.”

On RB Tyler Allgeier seeing the majority of carries down the stretch and whether there’s a reason he saw so many snaps: “I think Tyler was in a good rhythm. Obviously, Bijan made a few plays. It wasn’t just because of the fumble. I mean, it was working, and clearly it worked down to the end. Just with the way that it was going, there were certain looks they were doing. They were doing a lot of pressure looks and different personnel. We thought we kind of had him locked into a look. That’s why we stayed in that personnel group we did. Kind of a little mix-and-match, but I mean, it was working, so we stayed with Tyler and the hot hand.”

On whether it’s frustrating when the offense has to kick field goals rather than find the end zone: “I mean, any time you don’t win or get the results you set out to get, it doesn’t matter if you had 100 yards or 300 and whatever we had today. Bottom line, you have to score more points. We all know that. So, 28 wasn’t enough today. Yeah, I think at times, we have been better, but when you lose, it’s not good enough.”

On what’s missing to get back in the win column: “We have to play in sync. That’s the thing. You have your opportunities, and we didn’t take advantage of – the defense made some plays. We got some turnovers, and we had gotten held to three. So, then you get in a rhythm, and unfortunately, the turnovers, and they extended plays. Give Dobbs credit. He made some big-time plays with his feet. So, we just never played in sync, and you get the lead. Obviously, we didn’t get it done. Yeah, that would be the biggest thing is us playing in sync. There have been some times it’s been good in one phase, and we obviously need to do that to get back in the win column.”

On what else they can do to limit turnovers: “Keep finding a way. Have to continue to find ways to coach it, keep working it. Obviously, it’s been a problem.”

On an injury update on WR Mack Hollins: “No. Mack didn’t come back in. I don’t have an update right now.”

On whether he thinks there needs to be drastic changes with how the team operates after losing three of four games: “You look at things every week. We’re always looking to improve. We look at ourselves as a staff and what we’re doing in practice. That is week-to-week. You lose these games like this close, you know, yes, we have to do something to get over that hump to get back in the win column. I don’t know how drastic it would be in the season, but yes, we’re always looking for anything that can help us as a team.”

On whether he’d consider changing play-callers: “Every staff I’ve been on, you do whatever you can to win. I mean, it’s just how you set things up. You collaborate. Like I said, yards are up. I know these are natural questions. You get them in the cycle, and then when you don’t win, you have to stand there and look at it. It’s not an ego thing. It’s we’ll always do what’s best for our team. Yards are up. Moving the ball, great, but obviously we’re not scoring more points than the other team. So you look at everything. That’s at every phase.”

On whether this was a game he felt like they could have won easily: “I don’t think anything is easy in this league, but we certainly had our opportunities to win this one. That would absolutely be fair, so yeah, it’s disappointing. I felt that way most of our losses. We are where we are. We’re 4-5. We have eight games left, and we have to do something about it. Otherwise, I’m going to keep coming up here, and it’s not going to be what you want.”

The Bow Tie Chronicles