Falcons’ Arthur Smith: ‘You can feel a little more foundation and identity’

Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after the 30-17 win against the Buccaneers on Sunday:

On the performance of the offense and its success sustaining drives: “I mean, we were glad that they played some of their top guys to go out there and compete. We figured they’d bring a lot of pressure, which they did. So, it was good back and forth. There were some things that we weren’t really clean on that we fixed, and it’s a credit to our players and our staff. But, yeah, the offense put some drives together. There are some other things certainly you can always look to improve, but it was good to see, and it was good to finish the year with a win.”

On finishing 7-10 and looking forward to next season: “Yeah, obviously I thought this group of guys, tomorrow will be sad knowing that this team has given us everything. The way they’ve come in day in, day out, and it started in the spring, the habits they brought every day, and you talk about foundation and culture and what it means to be a Falcon. We talk about our ethos, and these guys – obviously we’d love to still be playing, but we’re not – but there’s a lot of good things that happened. We wanted to finish the season strong. It’s important to win every time you go out there, and our guys did that the last two weeks. There are a lot of bright spots to finish the season.”

On whether they carry momentum off the final two games into next season: “Sure. It’s just the way that every day, no matter what, we’re always coming in that building to do our job and to do our best. You can rationalize a lot of things in this league; you look around the league, but that’s not who our guys are, our players and everybody in that building. It’s important to them. It’s important to come in here on a Sunday and to play well and to win. You build those habits, you come in this building, it’s important for us to play well at home, and it means a lot to us. Our fans mean a lot to us. You spend a Sunday watching our guys and watch us work. We really wanted to end this with two wins, and I was glad we did.”

On whether it’s challenging to evaluate QB Desmond Ridder’s performance with the limited number of starters playing in the second half: “It’s the National Football League. You know how hard it is to make a roster in the National Football League? You want to talk about their starters, put that one drive together. I thought he operated. We tried to come out, we didn’t start the way we wanted. They had a say in that as well. And we tried to get aggressive to start the second drive, and we were able to string some plays together, get down there and thankfully able to get a touchdown. Only got three. Got aggressive off the turnover on the sudden change, took a shot at it and then made sure we at least came away with points. That was important. And had the one turnover on a little quick issue there on a protection thing, and I thought we overcame a lot. So there’s a lot of things – red zone, third down, fourth down, and I think we’ve seen that the last four weeks. There’s a lot to learn from, and pretty pleased. We’ve got a long way to go before we make any decisions in the offseason, but there’s a lot you can learn from this.”

On when he got a sense RB Tyler Allgeier could rush for 1,000 yards: “I think as the season went along. Some of it, we were very confident. Obviously, there’s a reason we drafted him. I was pretty pleased with the way he was trending, and then some of it sometimes as opportunities happened. I don’t know if anybody was running the ball better than CP (Cordarrelle Patterson) was earlier in the year around the league, and unfortunately, he missed some time, and it was an opportunity where Allgeier, I thought, stepped in and did a nice job. So did Caleb Huntley. And I think he really took off. Some of those were by circumstance, a little bit quicker, but we had a lot of confidence when we took him out of BYU.”

On whether the team feels different this season than last despite finishing with the same record: “Yeah. It’s a much different year.”

On the difference between this season and last season: “Well, last year you talk about the first year in transition. Talked about it earlier in the week, some of the obstacles as we tried to set the foundation, some things we were limited with. We had a little more of a veteran team. We had some guys that have been here a long time. We had some rookies that were playing for the first time, and then we had some guys that were first year that are no longer with us. That was out of necessity where we were to fill out a roster. Those guys gave us everything they had. It was a little bit different team, but we had a little more veteran presence when it got into close games. This year, add to the rookie class of a year ago, we add another group. Got some guys that I think aren’t necessarily at the end of their careers that are on some one-year deals that (we’ve) been pretty pleased with, and we’ll continue to evaluate that. You can feel a little more foundation and identity, especially up front. The offensive line, I thought, week in and week out, they rose to the occasion. They were knocking people off the ball. If we wanted to run it, we could. There’s a physicality and a brand. And the next challenge is to make sure we become more explosive offensively. We need more pass rush. I get all that. But every game, other than the one up in Cincinnati, the other 16 was a dogfight, and these guys embraced it. So there’s a big difference.”

On what having two rookies set franchise records says about the future of the franchise: “Well, it’s a great foundation. Another thing, too, I’ve been around a lot of rookies that they start fast and they take a lull, and it’s up and down, and talk about the rookie wall. Those guys got better as the season went along. That’s very encouraging. Talk about the one game the identity the tight ends and receivers, what we put on the quarterback’s plate. That’s a big part of Desmond (Ridder)’s job, too. If you want to run the ball the way we do, there’s a lot of things schematically I won’t get into, but we put a lot on his plate. And he handled that really well. It’s a coordinated effort. It does take all 11. And I thought the line, they were so excited about Tyler getting that 1,000 yards. I said earlier CP ran the ball pretty well, especially when he was healthy earlier in the year. That’s hopefully trending in the right direction, talk about a culture when you walk in that room day in and day out the example those guys set.”

On whether he feels there’s a foundation with the offensive line and the success in the run game: “Absolutely. It’s also – you watch Drake London block. Watch those guys. Watch KhaDarel Hodge. Watch those guys get in the mix, things we asked Parker Hesse to do that nobody will ever notice. Guy just does his job. See why he was a captain at Iowa, defensive end, by the way. Just a thankless professional that doesn’t get enough credit. MyCole Pruitt, Kyle Pitts, those guys had a big part in it as well. The backs, everything is coordinated, the quarterbacks. So pretty pleased. Something you want to build off and evolve. But very pleased with the run unit.”

On whether he will evaluate Ridder on the improvement he made over the four games or on the quarterback he was in the fourth game: “Yeah, that makes sense, but it’s both. It’s a process. It’s day to day. He’s been in the building for a year like all of our players. Again, we adapted. Circumstances changed, and we needed to see what he could do. Played against some of the top defenses, two on the road, two at home. They threw everything they had at him. I’d argue as the games went on, he got better. Very encouraged by watching him in pressure moments. Did change my thinking a little bit on fourth down. Wanted to see him handle that, and I thought he did well. When you can do that and you can win third and fourth down, that says a lot about you, to be able to play, extend, look to throw, not get rattled. Again, not perfect, but we saw a lot of progress. There’s a lot you could evaluate from.”

On what it means to win six games at home: “You talk about building a foundation, to go back to that, we want this place – our fans deserve that. You’re going to spend time and money to come watch us – like you asked me – it’s important to finish. It’s important every time we go out there to do our job. They deserve that. That’s our charge. That’s the way we’re wired, and so it’s of great importance to us, and we’ll continue hopefully to build off that, so when people come in here, our fans, you can feel them. You could feel them today, and we appreciate that.”

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Atlanta Falcons 2022 results

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 Chargers 20, Falcons 17

Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15

Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24

Nov. 27 Commanders 19, Falcons 13

Dec. 4 Steelers 19, Falcons 16

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