What Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after Sunday’s 19-16 loss to Pittsburgh at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:
On what he saw from quarterback Marcus Mariota: “Well, you saw there a little more aggressive early, knowing that they kind of pack the paint in there. They were sitting on everything. That’s why we tried to press the ball down the field. We hit that shot to Drake (London). Again, like all of us, nothing’s perfect, clearly. We came up three points short. A lot that we need to make sure we get in there and evaluate fairly and objectively, and, look, everything’s on the table. You know, obviously, it’s not good enough when you lose (the) game. And that’s what happened.”
On the Falcons’ trouble running the ball in the first half: “Stats can be a little misleading, I believe. Taking out that last two-minute drive, and we had 19 plays give or take; I don’t have the number in front of me. That’s what I was told. We had thrown the ball a little bit more. Went off track with a holding call. So six out of 19 plays that we had runs, one of them was a possible run that may have been checked to something else. It isn’t enough plays. Start the second half, I think we got one first down, and then we had to punt. And then, thankfully, we got going a little bit in the third quarter. So not enough plays. Not a lot of possessions. So there’s a lot of things we need to get fixed.”
On if the offense found itself in the second half: “It was 19-6, right? We’re able to hold them to a field goal. And, so, we were able to get a couple positive plays. I thought we had some good momentum. I thought we got into a groove a little bit. Offensively, I thought our guys were going to come off the football and certainly lean in that aspect and get us back in the game, got us down there. Unfortunately, we had to kick a field goal. And then we got the ball back late, and they picked it.”
On the biggest area of concerns that will be addressed during the bye week offensively: “Well, I think a lot of it is going to have to do with not getting enough opportunities. We got down there twice and stalled out in the fringe. We’re moving the football at a decent level but not well enough to win more of these games. So, everything right there. We need more possessions, and we need more opportunities down there. So, we got down there twice today; we scored on one. And then we had (a) penalty after the touchdown, and then we had to kick the football. So certainly what we need to get down there more, and we need to possess the ball more. So let’s start there.”
On if there is value to making a change just to switch things up: “You want to make sure you’re doing the right thing, not overreacting emotionally. There’s plenty of examples you’re right, that can help spark something. So, like I said, every option’s on the table.”
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