Falcons coach Dan Quinn was not pleased with the turnovers and the penalties in the 23-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday.
Here’s what he had to say:
Opening Statement:
“The issue for us came down to the ball. Not creating any takeaways defensively, and then finishing in a minus four turnover ratio. We’ve got a really tough outfit, and I think that showed the fact that we’re in this game and taking it into overtime, and having a chance to go win it when you’re in minus four. That part is tough. The penalties were certainly a factor. I believe we had 11 for the game, and part of our motto as finishing is doing right longer and that caught up to us today. We weren’t able to do that, and we’ll give credit to Tampa Bay in this case for them being plus four. That’s what it was for us, the issue came down to the ball.”
On getting into third down three times during the overtime drive:
“It wasn’t the same coverage on each one, but I’m going to have to tip my hat to them. We battled for it back-and-forth just like they all are.”
On how limited he was with three of his four starters in the secondary injured:
“Well, it’s a challenge for sure. It comes up in lots of NFL games. We have such confidence in the guys. It was a matter of just getting the pieces in the right spots going into it, but we have all of the confidence in the world for the guys that go in. We wouldn’t put them up and active if we didn’t believe in them, and we certainly do. For us, the real issue tonight really came down to the football.”
On the turnovers:
“It was disappointing. The main thing for us is the ball. For us not to have that connection today was hard on us. It was a hard lesson for us. Knowing we’re at our best when we’re taking care of the ball, and also creating takeaways too. It goes both sides with that. It’s not just offense. We didn’t create any defensively. That’s when we’re at our best when we’re able to give the ball to the offense. That whole mix together is what makes us unique. For us not to do that today was hard.”
On Matt Ryan being really frustrated:
“The thing I want to make sure that we all know is what a top flight elite competitor he is. There were some great plays made out there by a number of guys. One of the cases is us not being able to move the ball. There were certainly opportunities for everybody. The mistakes cost us today. The penalties and the turnovers were a real factor in the game.”
On the pass interference:
“I didn’t get a great shot of it. I was on the far side away from him. We knew this crew was one of the tops in it. The call didn’t have a question on it. We’ll go back and look at it, but I didn’t have a good sight at it to really know.”
On any updates on the guys who were injured:
“I’ll have a better feel for those guys tomorrow and see where we’re at. Some of the guys who did get banged up came back out. Justin Durant and Mike Person came back. The corners did not, but I’ll have a better feel for them tomorrow.”
On 6-2 overall but 0-2 in the division:
“Number one, this team is really connected. That part I know is there. Our toughness, the way we like to finish is there. We didn’t execute as well as we would today, so I feel like we’ve got a long way to go. We’ll improve in a number of areas as we’re going forward. That’s kind of our theme each week, in terms of how we can keep getting better and keep going forward. From the toughness standpoint and where we want to be, there’s a lot of work for us to do but I have all of the faith in these guys and belief in them to take it as far as we can.”
On the overtime:
“When that momentum takes place that’s really the shift of the game. As a competitor, recognizing that time to finish is a real trait that you have. We have a number of guys that can do that. We’re a really good finishing team. For tonight, when we didn’t do as well as we’d like that’s still hard on us.”
On Jalen Collins:
“Number one, in terms of the development he’s had, we knew this was coming, in terms of the length and the speed that he plays with outside. Robert Alford’s ability to go inside and play nickel was a factor as well. We have lots of belief and confidence in Jalen moving forward.”
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