Here’s what Falcons coach Raheem Morris had to say after the 26-24 win over the Saints on Sunday:
Opening Statement: “Obviously the result you wanted today. It’s so good to win. Then obviously, you get out there and get a chance to play that way and to finish it the way it finished. A complete team win across the board. (Younghoe) Koo finishing that thing off for us. So many things you can correct, and it’s always nice to correct those things in a win.”
On sending K Younghoe Koo to kick the game-winning field goal: “That thing was ending with a Koo make or miss. Didn’t matter where it was from. Koo was going out there.”
On having a complete team win: “It certainly set it off for us today. We talked about what it takes and what it takes to win. We talked about our guys being an impact the game, and they certainly were today when we talk about the team’s phase and what we do. These guys go out there and play. Those guys covering punts and covering kicks and really setting the edge and doing the things that we need to do out there was definitely critical and clutch for us. I was so proud of how they reacted and went out there and played.”
On how strongly he considered letting the Saints score earlier on the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter: “Used that two time-outs. Oddly enough, believe it or not, we had 56 seconds the other day with no time-outs to get in field goal range to win in a practice setting, so we knew we needed a little bit of minute of it, and we used it all. We were able to get that big PI [pass interference], which oddly enough, happened in practice. We went out there, and we were able to finish that thing with Koo. It was exactly how we wanted it to go out for us in practice. Would have liked to get closer and tried to take a couple of shots there to Drake (London). They played tight coverage. Wasn’t able to get in there and took the shot down to (Darnell) Mooney on the sideline. I was extremely excited about those guys getting that done. We needed about a minute, we had about a minute, and it was well done by those guys.”
On when the practice drive was: “That was Friday, actually.”
On having a pass interference call against WR Darnell Mooney in practice: “It wasn’t against Mooney. I would have to go back and see who it was on for you. But we definitely – oh no, you know what? We got a penalty. It wasn’t a PI. I won’t tell you what it was.”
On taking big shots on the game-winning drive to get in field goal range: “The calls are a little bit shorter, but when you play sticky man coverage like that, it goes to who’s open. You take the shots to your best players. You take the plus shots to Drake (London), you take one to (Darnell) Mooney. You give yourself a chance down the field. We had some shorter people in position to catch some shorter passes. Obviously, they did a nice job of trying to cover things. You try to uncover on the center cut. Tried to get to get outbreak and tried to hit a honey-hole shot there and see if we can get something going there.”
On getting TE Kyle Pitts more involved in the game: “It’s about going out there and winning the game when you’re out there and playing. He had a couple of targets today, had a couple of things going out that way. We believe we got a questionable call at the end of the stretch of the game to Kyle. Those things always are unfortunate. Really, for me, stats are for losers, man. I don’t get involved in that stuff. You go out and try to win each game. We were able to win it today, and that’s what we did.”
On how much the crunch-time games are testing his nerves: “Welcome to the National Football League. I’ve been in the league since 2002, and I feel like they all end the same way or around the same way. It’s about having that mental stamina enough to go out and push and pursue and get your guys to go out and finish. They’ve certainly given me a nice chance to go out and finish with our guys. They fight every single week, and I’m proud of them.”
On how much an accurate kicker during the game factors into late-game field goal: “It’s not always the same, but it’s always going to be a lot of confidence in (Younghoe) Koo. It’s hard to say you’re not going to have confidence in that young man and what he is able to do. I believe it was a 58-yarder and it looked good from – probably a little bit further. You are always going to have a lot of confidence in (Younghoe) Koo and what he does and how he goes about his process. As long as his weekly rhythm and routine is good, I think he is going to be good.”
On whether he felt like he was funneling some things in-game to ILB Troy Andersen: “I have to go look at it. I don’t think we actually intended to funnel anything to him. It’s just kind of how it works. The guy was flying around today, making a bunch of plays, making a bunch of tackles. He plays with tremendous speed. He plays with a tremendous violence that we love, and he got it done for us today. It was awesome.”
On how RB Tyler Allgeier played today: “Hot man got in there, man. He got a couple of runs and was able to tote that thing. You just keep feeding him. He got a couple of really good runs. He was critical for us. He is the heavy back, and he was heavy for us today. He got a couple of yards for us, and we were really excited. I don’t know how many exactly. I got it in front of me. I was proud of what he was able to do when he got a chance to play for us.”
On CB Dee Alford’s matchup with Saints WR Rashid Shaheed late in the game: “Great play by Dee Alford. Dee Alford’s playing his butt off. He plays hard. He gets tough matchups every single week. He was almost the goat at the end of that game with 12 (Chris Olave) going out there and catching a big catch on the 1-yard line. You know, I’ve got a lot of confidence in those guys how hard they play, how much they put into the game. They play for each other. They play for the love of the team. I’m just excited. I can’t wait to go watch the tape and grade the guys and find ways to get better.”
On ILB JD Bertrand stepping in at the end of the game: “The Rook went out when Troy (Andersen) left. Troy had a little injury at the end. I don’t have all the details on that. I’m sure you’ll be bothering somebody about it. I’ve got a lot of confidence putting him in the game. Our young rook, Captain America, went out there and finished the game for us and was able to go.”
On whether he feels like this team is a team of destiny: “No. I don’t feel like Cinderella. I feel like you got to go out there and play every single game, and you’ve got to try to go out there and win. And the more poised team usually wins. Right now, I’m trying to show my team poise and show them poise, what it looks and feels like, what it feels like to be resilient. They’re showing us, and they’re showing our city. I can’t say enough good things about the fan base today. That place was a home field advantage today. That thing was rocking. Almost caught me dancing. They got me out of character on the sideline. That was outstanding.”
On whether WR KhaDarel Hodge being in the right place at the right time on special teams was a surprise to him: “No. How the special teams have been playing for the majority of the year has been really good. You’re talking about (Antonio) Hamilton (Sr.). You’re talking about KhaDarel Hodge. You’re talking about Micah Abernathy. I mean, we’ve got people that go out there and play every single week. We had a clear-cut advantage that we knew we could get something off if we went out there and covered the right way. We certainly did that and I’m very proud of those guys.”. Koo finishing that thing off for us. So many things you can correct, and it’s always nice to correct those things in a win.”
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