Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the 17-14 win over the Giants:
Q: Obviously for much of the day it was frustrating offensive day, so what was it like to be able to come through here late in the last few drives?
A: “Yeah, I thought it was a grind most of the day and I think it’s a great learning lesson for a lot of our young players that sometimes in this league that’s the way it is and you’ve got to find a way to get the job done. I thought we battled and then when it was time, we stepped up and made the plays had to make and I thought the last two drives were clutch and really good for us and a lot of different people making plays in those situations which is going to bode well for us moving forward.”
Q: I’m curious on the sideline when that’s going on is your (head) coach (Arthur Smith) saying anything to you guys? Is he coming over to the bench when the offense comes off the field or messaging…
A: “Yeah, it’s keep fighting and try and clean up the things we need to clean up and just keep battling, keep fighting and I thought Art did a great job of that the entire day. I thought the assistant coaches on the sideline did a great job of that and we just had a belief that regardless of how tough it was going we were going to make the plays when we needed to and that’s a good thing for us moving forward. We have to have that belief as we continue to build as a team.”
Q: Did the quarterback do a good job of that, too?
A: (Laughs)
Q: On that last drive going out for the field goal, what was your message?
A: “I think the message was, ‘hey, we’ve got to do our job, whatever’s called, whatever your responsibility is for that play, you need to do it. We don’t need to do anymore or any less. You just need to do your responsibility,’ and I thought guys tightened things up and we did a really good coming job of that coming in.”
Q: Do you say anything in the huddle at the start of that drive? Or did you say anything?
A: “Right before we go out, that’s exactly what I said. ‘We’re going to win this game.’ All you’ve got to do is your job and focus on whatever play call comes in, what your responsibility is and then go do it the best you can. I thought guys did a great job of that.”
Credit: Bill Kostroun
Credit: Bill Kostroun
Q: What did they do early on to take (Falcons TE) Kyle (Pitts) away and then those two big catches late that helped to get you in position for the touchdown and the game-winning field goal?
A: “I thought they had a nice plan to come out and try and keep things in front—at different times two guys on (Falcons WR) Calvin (Ridley) and zone coverage and two guys over top where Kyle was. Not letting anything really down the field, trying to keep things in front of them, forcing us to check the football down and be patient. But then we had some chances — a third down situation where Kyle runs a crossing route and uses his big body — that was a crucial third down conversion for us and then really made a great play on the pass interference call too. When you have a big body guy like that and there’s off-schedule plays in the red area, you have confidence of giving guys opportunities, opportunity throws, and that set us up to finish that drive off. And then I thought the catch on the corner route on the last drive of the game really kind of, that sealed the deal. It got us in position to run the football, take some time off the clock and allow (Falcons kicker Younghoe) Koo to go out there and knock it in.”
Q: You mentioned belief a few times at every press conference. What was it like the last two weeks and what happened maybe to keep you believing, what was it that Arthur was doing or that y’all were doing to say OK I’m going to keep believing even though the results were two lopsided losses?
A: “I think there was a lot of positive things that we had done and a lot of good on those tapes. There wasn’t enough of it, but there were signs that showed that we could do this at a high level. And again, today wasn’t perfect but I think the mindset was right that we just felt like whatever came in we were going to make the plays we needed to make at the end and I think it’s going to help us continue to believe that when it comes to fruition. You go out there and you make plays and you win the games and so it’s definitely harder when the results aren’t there. It becomes a little bit easier when you do make the plays and you get the result you want and hopefully that’s something we can build on as we move forward.”
Q: Is Arthur doing that through messaging, is he doing that through showing you film, is he putting up signs like Ted Lasso. What’s he doing?
A: “He’s different from Ted Lasso (laughs). He’s definitely got a different approach than Ted Lasso, but there’s no “believe” sign in there in the locker room that the guys tap. But he does it a number of different ways, you know, in messaging, showing the film, showing the good, showing the bad. But with the bad, showing how we can correct it and making it constructive and I think guys have taken that coaching to heart—the good and the tough and tried to improve and that’s what we’ve got to continue to do as players.”
Q: Put us in the locker room. You’re giving the game ball over to Arthur. What was said and how did he react?
A: “Well he gave out a number of game balls before and it was cool to see him show appreciation for some of the behind the scenes guys that have really helped us. I just think having been around a long time and knowing it’s tough to win in this League—there’s no doubt about it—and his first time doing it as a head coach, that’s a special moment and hopefully that’s something that he’ll always remember. This game up here and the way we won and how we did it and that game ball is sometimes a nice little thing to have to remind you of that and so he was fired up. It was cool to see he was fired up in the locker room.”
Q: Before he got in there I understand he kind of gave everybody a hug coming off the field, almost took you down with the hug...
A: “I tried to give him a shot too. A little something. He hugged me really hard. I gave him a little something back, but I think we were both fired up. That’s why you work as hard as you do. You want to win football games, you want to celebrate with the guys after wins and hopefully we can do a lot more of that as we move forward.”
Q: What do you mean the guys that are kind of behind the scenes? I don’t know if that’s too secret inside baseball, but who, what do you mean by that?
A: “I think you can ask Art about that, but some of the operations guys and equipment staff and guys like that that nobody knows, but we all know and we all appreciate and they make our lives a lot easier and certainly take a lot of strain off of us and we’re certainly thankful for everybody in our building.”
Q: Was that as hard as you were hit all day, by Arthur?
A: “(Laughs) He’s a big dude, man. He’s a big guy. I wouldn’t say that’s the hardest I got hit. There were a few other ones.”
Q: Have you seen him that animated or that excited?
A: “That’s the first time we’ve won together and so that’s the first time I’ve seen that. I’ve seen him animated (laughs). I’ve definitely seen that, but that was the first time I’m seeing it in a winning environment, so it was pretty cool.”
Q: I heard there was some dancing. Was there some dancing in the locker room?
A: “There was no dancing from me. I didn’t see any from Art either, but there was plenty of dancing across the board.”
Q: What was the (Falcons RB) Cordarrelle (Patterson) drop, kind of kick started that drive? What happened on that play? You mentioned Jake and Cordarelle.
A: “Yeah, I thought both those guys, two of our very best players in a critical situation going out there and making a play. An excellent timing route by CP (Cordarrelle Patterson) to kind of set it up and then come back and (Falcons LT) Jake (Matthews) doing a great job. He’s one of the most athletic guys and just getting out there and getting enough of a piece to get it started and I thought it was a really good call by Art and a really good execution by those two guys.”
Q: What did you think of the defense being able itself to hold them to just a couple scores?
A: “Man, our defense played really well today and with some guys down and (Falcons CB) A.J. (Terrell) out and (Falcons CB) T.J. (Green) stepping up. A lot of different people stepping up and making plays, but they kept us in it. They really did. It was tough sledding for us on offense and our defense really kept us in it until the end and I’m proud of their effort.”
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Atlanta Falcons Schedule
Washington FT at Falcons, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.
New York Jets vs. Falcons in London, Oct. 10 at 9:30 a.m.
Bye Week
Falcons at Miami Dolphins, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.
