Coach Dan Quinn said Monday that eliminating turnovers and penalties was of emphasis in practice last week.
The Falcons offense has suffered 12 turnovers in four games before traveling to San Francisco. The Falcons’ defense has forced four turnovers against opponents in the Falcons’ last four games.
Quinn said although the Falcons go into their bye week coming off a loss, one of the high notes was not allowing an offensive turnover against the 49ers.
“The turnover part in some games, that was hard,” Quinn said. “For us to have that part cleaned up and for us to go into a plus-two for a turnover margin and for the penalties go down, those are the things that we want to keep getting better at week after week.”
The last game the Falcons did not have a turnover was against the Texans over a month ago on October 5.
Blaine Gabbert, in his first start at quarterback this season for the 49ers, threw two interceptions Sunday — one to linebacker Vic Beasley and one to cornerback Phillip Adams.
Against the 49ers, the Falcons had six penalties for 63 yards. Entering Sunday’s game, the Falcons’ averaged seven penalties a game for 61.3 yards per game.
Entering the bye week, Quinn said he challenged his team not replay mistakes of the past in their minds.
“We were really challenged the last two weeks. That part was hard,” Quinn said. “Really for us, the opportunities were there for us to have a chance and it didn’t come through like we want.”
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