Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 37-34 win over the Panthers on Sunday:
Damiere Byrd, wide receiver
On the win in a crazy game: “It’s one of those games that you hope you never (lose) in a game like that. There were were so many ups and downs. But we were able to fight through.”
On his football journey: “Eight years in, undrafted. Started on the practice squad. I really just put my head down and grind. I believed in myself. I believed in my coaches and teammates. This league is about the ups and downs. You’re going to play bad. You’re going to play great. It’s all about staying level. I’ve been able to fight my tail off. I’ve been able to make big plays. Hopefully, I’ll continue to do so.”
On his 47-yard touchdown run: “I was on the backside of the play. Marcus (Mariota), as he does always, did a great job of extending plays and finding guys that are open. Once I kind of caught the ball, I knew that everybody was over the top. I was just really trying to find green grass and follow the big guys, the big, strong guys because they are going to get those good blocks. That was it.”
On the last couple of minutes of the game: “It was a blur. I had 30 seconds where I was going to jump out of the roof. Then it was four minutes where I thought I was going to go cry somewhere. That’s the beauty of the game. You never know what is going to happen. Right when you don’t think you have a chance, you do have a chance. That’s the great thing about this team. We are going to keep fighting every time that we have a chance. I’ll line up with these guys any day of the week.”
Mykal Walker, linebacker
On first place: “Anytime that you’re in first place, that says something. The guys who have been here a couple of years, this means a lot to us. It is going on Year 3, and now we’re in first place. Just not look back.”
On getting the win: “Just the highs and lows. At the end of the day, this team is never going to quit. We lean on each other. If something good happens, we’re with each other. If something bad happens, we’re with each other. We’re never going to quit. We are always going to fight until the end.”
On this being a pivotal win: “Absolutely, we have a message going around right now that says, ‘Don’t look back.’ We’re in first place right now. Even though we’ve got a lot of games, don’t look back.”
Caleb Huntley, running back
On the game being back and forth and the offense being ready to answer: “That’s what we pride ourselves on. Like coach (Arthur Smith) says, the game is not always going to go our way, but we have to be able to bounce back and keep on fighting. Feel like we always do that every time we’re in crunch (time).”
On being in first place of the division: “Job’s not finished yet. We have to still go back to work and work on the small things we missed this game so we can keep going.”
On the mindset of the bench during a back-and-forth game: “Mindset is just to lock in and cheer whoever is on the field on, just come together and stay locked in. You never know how the game can go. Just like we saw, they got a big play at the end and they scored on it, but we were able to ride in and get the field goal to set up the win. It’s about being unselfish and just trusting your teammates.”
On Younghoe Koo being so calm: “I feel like that’s the way you got to be in big-time moments. You don’t want to get too rattled, get too emotional, just remain calm, take a deep breath and get the job done, which he did, he always does. He’s so clutch.”
Jake Matthews, left tackle
On running down Panthers CB C.J. Henderson after his interception in overtime: “Exhausting would be my first word. I can’t be more proud of the guys in this room. Especially the O-line and the way we fought today, and the plan we had coming into today. The fact that we got it done. There’s stuff to improve, but it’s really hard to win in the NFL and especially in a game like that where it’s back and forth so many times. I think it was a really big win for us.”
On being in first place of the division: “This is where you want to be. These are our expectations. There’s no looking back. We have to keep building off of this. The goal is to stay here now. It means nothing if we are only here for a little while. A lot more work to get done, but we are definitely going to enjoy this one.”
On Marcus Mariota’s day: “I couldn’t be more proud of him, the player he is, and the guy he is as well. He’s got that personality that you want to do really well for him just because of how well he takes care of us and the type of attitude he brings every day. Man, I couldn’t be happier he’s our quarterback, and I think he played great today.”
On the importance of winning today: “Like I said earlier, it’s hard enough to win in the NFL as it is. There’s definitely stuff we can improve on, and the fact we were still able to pull out this win, it definitely was all three phases working together. Defense getting a score, special teams preventing a couple kicks, we couldn’t have done it without a team effort. There’s stuff we can improve in all three phases as well. I think we keep cleaning those things up and hopefully we have some easier wins than the one today, but I can’t say enough, and we’ll take this one. We’re very excited about it.”
Lorenzo Carter, outside linebacker
On how the defense felt during the final drive watching the offense: “It was a team effort. We played complementary football. The offense helped the defense, defense helped the offense, special teams helped everybody. That’s what we do. It’s nothing new. We know we got to work for each other, and we work hard for each other. We fight for each other.”
On whether he’s played a game like today: “Nah, I haven’t, but I always prepare to play 60 minutes and some. Once that 60 minutes is over, you got to play extra, that’s what we practice so hard for, why we condition. That’s why we play this game.”
On whether today’s game had a similar feeling to the Saints game in Week 1: “Nah, I mean, knew what we had to do. Everybody stayed pretty even-keeled. The coaches made sure that we were prepared to go back out, whenever we had to go back out. At the end of the day, we just play ball for each other.”
Darren Hall, cornerback
On postgame emotions: “We’ll probably feel even better tomorrow. At the end of the day, it’s a new week so we’re going to enjoy this win tonight, go home and celebrate with our friends and family, but after tomorrow, it’s time to get ready for the Chargers.”
On the final defensive drive of regulation: “Players making a play. I’ve never seen a ball be thrown like that, either. On the run, 70 in the air in the breadbasket. He threw a great ball; D.J. Moore made a play, then took his helmet off and gave us a chance with that flag. You don’t want things like that to happen, but you can’t control everything.”
On the missed extra point with 12 seconds remaining to keep the game tied: “When they took that flag, I thought let’s go block it, make him miss it, something. I didn’t even watch it, but they said he missed it. It gave us another chance, gave us some more life, and then that second one I, for sure, didn’t watch. I thought (there) was no way.”
On being first in the NFC South: “That’s our goal, to win the division. That’s a guaranteed spot into the playoffs. Going out there week by week, continuing to win, especially division games every single time because they are big games so it feels good to be at the top, but we can’t stop there. We have to keep on rolling.”
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Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT
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
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