Here’s what Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke had to say after the 29-10 win over the Colts on Sunday:
On the offensive performance today: “I thought we played a pretty clean game. That’s what we were trying to do. Obviously, the story of the season so far has been turnovers and self-inflicted wounds, and that was kind of our message this week, hey, let’s not beat ourselves, let’s make them go beat us. I thought we played a really clean game, tried to get the ball out of my hands quick, let those playmakers do their thing. Obviously, you want to punch it in a little bit more when you get down there, but a win is a win, so we’re happy with it.”
On what he saw on the touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts: “Obviously, Bijan having a big run, that’s awesome, getting a lot of juice going, and then the play was -- we had a curl and a little corner behind it, and I saw the corner take that curl/out, and I saw a big area for Kyle in the end zone, so kind of just laid it out in the area, let him go get it. But that’s how we want to start. We want to come out and start fast, put some points on the board and go from there. From start to finish, I thought we played really well.”
On scoring before the half and then getting a touchdown to start the second half: “It’s huge. Again, Art talks about the middle eight all the time. You can win and lose games in that middle eight right there at halftime. Again, going down there, getting those three points and then coming back in the second half and scoring a touchdown, it’s huge for us. That’s a 10-point swing. It helps all phases of the game. Obviously, I fumbled that first snap, that wasn’t a good feeling, but we rallied and got through it.”
On his block and whether that play brought energy to the sideline: “I didn’t really anticipate blocking today [laughter], but I handed the ball off and kind of carried out my fake and saw he was reversing field. I’ve said this before, every time I go out there, I kind of play like it’s my last play, like it’s my last game. Playing in the NFL is a very special opportunity, and when you get your number called, it’s special. When I go out there, I leave it all out on the field, and so it happened to be a corner right there. I hope it looked better than it felt. I haven’t seen it yet, but anything to get the guys going. A lot of juice. That was cool.”
On whether he felt like the team playing looser helped them get a win: “Maybe. Again, I wouldn’t say wing it. I know what you’re trying to say. But there’s a certain feeling you get when you just have that freedom, when you kind of just in your head say, hey, man, what’s the worst that can happen. A loss? But if you’re going to lose, why do it uptight? Just go out there and leave it all out on the field. Again, there’s not a play where you want to look back and be like, I wish I did this or that. Just go out there and play. See what you see. React. This game is supposed to be fun. That’s why we started playing it. I think the guys had some juice coming out there today, and we played a good game.”
On whether he has started a game on Christmas Eve before: “The last two years I started on Christmas Eve and they’ve been awful. Two years ago we went to Dallas and got beat by like 40. Last year we went to San Fran and I got benched. Maybe the third time is a charm. No, this is great. We can enjoy our holidays with the win, with the up-and-down season we’ve had. This is really special. Everyone is excited.”
On whether he felt anything was different about this game than his previous two starts this year: “No, no. I just think all three phases showed up today. We played really good complementary football. We were never really backed up other than that one -- I think it was our second drive, and we got out of it. Obviously, we didn’t go down and score or anything, but we got I think to like the 30-yard line and punted it and put them inside the 20, which is huge. That’s things that we don’t talk about. That’s just huge, complementary football. The defense did a great job, special teams did a good job, and then offense, we kept moving the ball. It was a true team game today.”
On whether he will get himself special Jordans after winning today’s game: “Yeah, I’ll be posting some Jordans on Instagram later tonight. I’ll pick which ones I want. But I’ve got to keep the tradition alive.”
On whether he sensed anything different in this game compared to his previous two starts: “No. I felt like I had the same mindset going into those other two games. Go out there, have fun, play with passion. When you do that, I think that’s when you play your best.”
On going through an emotional up and down season and on the possibility of making the postseason: “Well, the cool thing about this locker room is if we were 12-4 or 4-12, I don’t think it would change a thing. The guys in there love playing ball. We approach work every day the same. Go out there, we work hard and care about each other. I would also be lying to you if I told you we don’t pay attention to it. Obviously, we do. But again, it’s something that you kind of keep in the back of your head, but you just go out there and play. You can’t pay too much attention to it. At the end of the day, if you go out there and win, everything else will take care of itself. Our main focus is just doing our jobs and getting a win. I don’t know if I can say this out loud, but obviously we’re rooting for the Jags. Hopefully they get the job done, and we’ll go from there. But we’re just excited about this win, get back on Tuesday and get ready for Chicago.”
