SEATTLE — Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 27-23 win over the Seahawks on Sunday:
RICHIE GRANT, safety
On the interception: “First off, we got some great pressure on those downs before the interception. Lorenzo (Carter), I think he had his first sack today. They just kept applying pressure that drive. We were sitting back. We needed a play for the team. I was able to come down with it.”
JAKE MATTHEWS, left tackle
On the win: “It felt really good. Pulling it out and getting a win. Coming into an incredible environment like this and finding a way to win, that’s part of running the ball.”
On the rushing attack: “You’d love to gash them for 30 yards each time the whole game. You have to work at it. It takes time to wear a defense down. I’m happy with how we stuck with it, and it paid off in the end.”
GRADY JARRETT, defensive end
On the defense closing it out and his sack at the end: “We definitely had to go out there and close it out. We just had to respond. We talked to each other as a team and how we need to play complementary football. We had the offense’s back when they made that mistake because they put up some points for us when we were struggling. We came through at the end, got a nice sack on third down and got a nice pick by (safety) Richie Grant on fourth down, so the defense came through and helped the team get a win today, but it took a team effort.”
On sticking with it on defense after giving up almost 300 yards in the first half: “It was definitely a tough mentality to be able to keep our heads down and keep working. We talked about just making something happen. Everything wouldn’t go our way, but we have to be able to outlast and keep going, and that’s what we did today. I’m happy to be able to come out with a win.”
On what they did to slow down Seattle’s run game: “We definitely tried to find an answer for it. It got going hot early with (Rashaad) Penny, and we knew that they were going to try and run downhill, and we tried to make some adjustments. We made some, but they still got a little too much on the ground today. We need to do better across the board against the run. But, at the end of the day, we got the win, and that’s what counts.”
On getting the win after two close games to begin the season: “Super gratifying. Super tough losses that we (had) the first two games. To be able to win a tough one on the road in a hectic environment, that’s going to propel us in the right direction. It’s just something that we could overcome and not have that dark cloud when something goes wrong like here we go again. We were able to overcome and get a stop.”
A.J. TERRELL, cornerback
On what it says about the defense being able to close out the last drive: “That was big. Our identity is something that we pride ourselves off of, just being able to finish a game off. We weren’t able to get those done the past two weeks. Coming in at halftime, just understanding that we need to finish the game. We came up with a pick and two sacks, which gave us a lot of juice during the end of the game.”
COLBY GOSSETT, left guard
On if they thought the game could end up like the first two weeks with close losses: “It’s always in the back of your head. You can’t say it’s not, but this team is incredibly resilient. We have a great group of guys that definitely come out and fight until the finish, so we knew we were going to come away with this one.”
On how they were able to close this game out: “It’s the NFL. It’s hard to win. You never know which way it’s going to go. We’re going to finish the fight every week, and we’ll see what happens from there.”
On having only one false start in Seattle: “Like I said, it’s just resiliency. You can say that for the entire team. This offensive line is incredibly tight. We flow really well together, and I’m excited to see what we can do for the rest of the year.”
On what it’s like blocking for Cordarrelle Patterson: “It’s incredible. The guy can do whatever he wants to do back there. It’s nice to have a group of guys like our offensive line, and we can communicate and get him open and watch him run down the field.”
On what the locker room was like after two close losses and then a close win: “It’s a great time. You have (owner) Arthur Blank’s birthday coming up on Tuesday, so it’s great to get that win for him, and it’s incredible to see the guys with a smile on their face and everyone enjoying their day.”
On sticking with the run game and finding success: “That’s just part of being an offensive lineman. We’re going to sit there and we’re going to hammer away and chip away until we can break one off.”
CORDARRELLE PATTERSON, running back
On his performance: “I’ve got to give all my hats off to the offensive line and coach (Arthur) Smith. The tight ends, they were blocking their butts off. They’re doing what they’re supposed to do, man. Tight ends, you think they always want to catch the ball, but you look on the perimeter, you’ve got Avery Williams blocking, Feleipe (Franks), Kyle (Pitts), you got Drake (London) out there busting his butt off. All those receivers do a good job blocking. As a great receiver, you’ve got to block, too. You can’t always just get the ball.”
On what goes through his head when he ponders his lofty stats: “Honestly, man, I love football so much, I don’t think there’s really one guy in this world who loves football as much as I love football. I just like to have fun and enjoy it the way I do, man. It’s a kids’ game, and I have so much fun playing this game. I enjoy myself, man. I don’t really care about the stats. When my number is called, I’m going to go out there and ball out. That’s just what I do.”
On having so many open runs: “At first, they did a heck of a job. I felt like they knew what we were going to do. But like I said, the offensive line, they stepped up big. They step up big each and every week, man. I couldn’t do it without the offensive line, man. I’ve got high praise for those guys. Unbelievable work with what coach (Dwayne) Ledford does with those boys. Each and every day, they really work harder than everybody else on this team, and that’s no BS. They work so hard.”
On when it feels like he’s in kick-return mode: “As soon as I get the ball. I just feel like, this is a kickoff return, let’s get a touchdown. That’s just my mindset every time I touch the ball.”
On his big third-quarter run: “Honestly, they were playing us so good, all game, we were running it, they knew where we were going. I just felt they had our game plan down. But I just seen a crease on the backside, and Feleipe, Avery (Williams), they did a heck of a job down there, just blocking and gave me the crease.”
On O-line play: “You know it’s good when the offensive line says, ‘Let’s run this play, and let’s run this play.’ They were feeling themselves a lot today. And I loved it. My offensive line, they get that aggression in them, and nobody can stop them, man. They are so dominant. Like I said earlier, the way they put the work in is unbelievable.”
On pregame preparation: “Coach let all of us speak last night. Everybody said some good stuff. To come out and get that win, you know, we’ve been away for eight days, I told them there ain’t no way I’m coming home with an ‘L,’ man. My family would kill me if I come home from being gone that long and lose. But it was great. I just appreciate every guy in this locker room.”
On if he saw the drone: “I did not see it. I wish I would have saw it. We all said they were just trying to slow us down, because we knew they were. But we was going. We was rolling. They can say it was a drone, but I don’t believe it.”
KYLE PITTS, tight end
On what Cordarrelle Patterson brings to the offense and what it does for him: “It opens it up. You have to stop the run, stop the pass, and he does a great job running hard for as big as he is. He’s a great leader, and he helps this offense.”
On how they were able to exploit Seattle’s pass defense today: “I would just say conceptually just beating some of their defense and their matchups.”
On what was going through his head during Drake London’s touchdown in the third quarter: “I was on the other side so I didn’t see who he had, but when he scored, I knew I was happy for him because he’s been doing a great job.”
On having a team meeting last night and what it meant coming into today: “It kind of put it into perspective. We’re all in this together, and there’s things that we said that I would say brought us even closer. This week, in terms of camaraderie, I feel like that brought us closer and helped us get this win.”
On how impressed he’s been with Drake London’s impact: “Specifically speaking, I’ve been trying to working on myself, but he’s doing a great job on the outside, and we try to get better each week.”
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Atlanta Falcons 2022 NFL schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25: Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Sun., Oct. 2, Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 9, at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 16 vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Thur., Nov. 10 vs. at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Sun., Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Sat., Dec. 24, at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
