Here’s what Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota said after the loss to the Saints:
On the difference between the first three quarters and the fourth quarter: “I would say the biggest difference was just finishing in the red zone. We had opportunities – multiple opportunities to go in there and score touchdowns and kind of put the game away. We allowed them, as an offense, to stick around, and that’s something we have to get back and look at and correct.”
On his fumble in the red zone: “Yeah, honestly, I just lost track of where I was. I thought I needed a few more for first down. So, I put my head down. I realized I already had it. Looking back in that situation I wish I would have just gone down and protected the ball, and we would have had another chance to score points.”
On whether he would believe it if he was told the team would rush for more than 200 yards and lose: “No. I don’t – yeah, that’s tough. Right? I think if you ever run the football as well as we did, make plays in the passing game, obviously we just have to find ways to score more points. I think we did a great job of moving the ball. Guys up front did an unbelievable job all game of controlling the line of scrimmage, and when it comes down to it in this league, if you’re not scoring points in the red zone, you leave the door open and you have to give credit to the Saints. They found a way at the end to win the game.”
On the fumbled exchange late in the game: “Yeah, that was 100% on me. ... We had a great look for the play that we called. And I tried to cheat it and get back a little quicker so I would have an opportunity to read it a little bit better. And it’s something that you take for granted. Unfortunately, it kind of got away from us, and that’s completely on me.”
On his impression of WR Drake London’s first game: “I thought he had a great day. For us, it’s no surprise. We’ve seen that throughout camp. We’ve seen that in OTAs. So, I think it’s a great steppingstone, but that’s the expectation. That’s the standard that we’re going to hold him to. But I love playing with these guys. They continue to find ways to get open, and you just have to find ways to get it to them.”
On how he evaluates games when he goes through them and whether he evaluates it as a whole: “I take it as a whole because I do think there was missed opportunities throughout the entire course of the game. And it’s part of Week 1, right? You kind of iron some things out. This is the full first game that we got to play together. With that being said, I’m not going to look at it specifically, you know, one quarter or another. I really believe if you look at it as a whole, there’s ways that we can improve and find ways to score more points and hopefully win the game.”
On whether he wants to use his legs more in the offensive attack: “Well, yeah. I think it just kind of depends on what they’re doing defensively. The Saints basically were allowing me to pull some of those end zone reads, giving me opportunities to get north and south. But we’ll have to see week to week. And that’s what’s fun about this offense, we can do a lot of different things. And we’re not one-dimensional. We can kind of do a lot of things, and we’ve got a bunch of guys that are very versatile. So, if it calls for it, yes. If not, you know, I’ll do whatever I can to help this team out.”
On the challenge of letting a loss like this go: “Yeah. It is tough. But I think as an older player and I think we’ve got some older vets in this locker room, they understand the nature of the beast. It’s one of 17. There’s 16 more of these. There’s a lot of good on the tape. There’s a lot of things we can get better at. But I don’t think you have to hang your head at all. It’s early in the season. We’ll find ways to improve. This team will continue to come together, and I love playing with these guys. I think we have a chance to be good.”
On whether the offense Sunday was what he envisioned it to look like: “It’s kind of hard to say, because I do think we’re so versatile in a lot of things that we do that it just kind of depends week to week. But I guess today was one of those days where up front we were doing a great job and we were able to run the football. So, yes, I think we are on the right track, but we just have to be better in (the) red zone and some of these third-down situations.”
On the fumble in the red zone: “Yeah. I just lost track of where I was. I thought I needed a few more yards. I put my head down to get what I thought was a first down. Just unfortunately one of those things. Looking back on it, if I can understand where I’m at, I would love to get down, give us another chance to get some points.”
On moving past this loss: “Yeah. What’s really cool about this team and what’s really cool about the culture that they’re building here is it’s just one day at a time. We’re doing our best to stay present, finding ways to improve on what is going on in that moment. I think if you look too far ahead or if you’re looking too far back, you get yourself in trouble. So, as a team, we’re going to find ways to get better from this, and we’re just going to take it one day at a time. And when things are rolling and we pick our heads up in December, I think we’ll like where we’re at.”
On whether playing a 17-game schedule gives him that ability to take it one day at a time: “Absolutely. There’s more opportunities, right? With 17 games there’s more chances to win games and find yourself in a playoff run.”
For more content about the Atlanta Falcons
Follow me on Twitter @DorlandoAJC
On Facebook at Atlanta Falcons News Now
On Instagram at DorlandoLed
Atlanta Falcons coverage on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 NFL schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18 at Los Angeles Rams, 4:05 p.m.
Sept. 25 at Seattle, 4:25 p.m.
Oct. 2 vs. Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Oct. 9 at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Oct. 16 vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.
Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
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
About the Author
