LANDOVER, Md. — Here’s what Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota had to say after the 19-13 loss to the Commanders:
On what he thought of their last play: “Yeah, I thought it was a great play call. You know, C.P. (Cordarrelle Patterson) was open. Unfortunately, he (Daron Payne) got his hand up, made a play on it and bounced it away.”
On if he can see that interception happening or if that was something random: “No, I think it’s tough, right? Like you’re keeping your eyes downfield, you’re going through your progression and your read. Sometimes you can kind of feel defenders in your face, but it’s hard to say that you’re kind of really thinking about that in that moment.”
On whether it was designed or improvised when he scrambled the play before: “It was my decision.”
On what he saw or didn’t see that made him scramble: “I thought I had a one-on-one opportunity with the defensive end, and I thought he was crashing down on CP (Patterson), and maybe I had a chance to get a run.”
On how tough this loss is when competing for playoff position: “Yeah, it is tough. These games as you’re progressing through the season get bigger and bigger, and unfortunately, we didn’t pull this one out. But at the same time, we’ve got to bounce back and get ready for Pittsburgh.”
On whether this was one of the season-changing games: “No, we’re nowhere near that. Where we stand today, we have an opportunity. However, that finishes out in Tampa (Bay). Obviously, we’re a game back, or maybe, however it is, whatever it is. But, no, I’m not looking at that right now. When the season is done, maybe you can go back and look at it and you can pinpoint certain things, but at this moment no.”
On not having TE Kyle Pitts and if WR Olamide Zaccheaus filled in for him: “It’s tough. It’s tough without Kyle, right? He’s just an unbelievable player, and I thought multiple guys kind of stepped up into that role, and you have to when you’re replacing a guy like Kyle. Whether it was O.Z. (Zaccheaus), whether it (was) Pru (MyCole Pruitt), and Firk (Anthony Firkser). I thought our guys came out and filled that role nicely, and unfortunately, we just didn’t make enough plays.”
On what led to the offense turning it on before the last drive: “I think it just came down to the moment, right, like, you’ve just got to go out there and make a play. I thought our guys did a great job of understanding that this is it, you’ve got to go make a play, and O.Z. (Zaccheaus) did an unbelievable job there.”
On whether the game plan was to run as much as they did: “It kind of came out that way. You know, as you’re going through the week, whether you’re running zone reads, whether you’re running wide zones, whatever the scheme may be, you don’t really know how it’s going to play out until the game gets going. The way they were running the zone reads just gave me opportunities to make plays.”
On his thoughts on not losing playoff ground with the Tampa Bay loss Sunday to the Browns: “Well, it’s nice, but at the same time, I’ve been in this long enough to know, you don’t want others to control your destiny. You want to take care of business. Unfortunately, we left one out there today, but we have opportunities coming up to right the ship and get going.”
On his thoughts on the play on the last drive where he was almost sacked but got it off to Zaccheaus: “Yeah, just trying to get up as fast as I can. Initially, just with the conditions it’s like a slip, and you want to try to get back up because we have a decent play up. It worked out, O.Z. (Zaccheaus) found a window, and at that point in time, it’s kind of chaotic, but you just find an opportunity to get your guy the ball.”
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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 Commanders 19, Falcons 13
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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