The Falcons had not won a road game on Monday Night Football since Sept. 10, 1976 when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here’s what Falcons coach Dan Quinn had to say after the 45-32 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday:
Opening Statement: "It was a really good team win tonight. It's a road win and a divisional game against a
tough opponent, so it’s definitely good to win ones like these. I thought that it was a really good team win,
guided by the special teams. They were the ones that really set it off, forcing the fumble (on the punt) right there
after they went down to score. Defensively, I thought that it was a great moment for Deion Jones, right here
back at home, getting a chance to take it in the end zone. It was a nice tipped ball by (Brian) Poole. Offensively,
I thought that we really attacked well tonight. It was more true with the running backs. I think that they totaled
somewhere near 300 yards and had about four touchdowns between them. They were a real factor in the
running game and in the passing game. It was a team win. We’ve got lots of work to do in a lot of spots, but we
are just getting started. It’s only the third game of the year, so we have a lot of areas to improve in, specifically
on defense. Overall, it was a very good team win on the road against a good divisional opponent, so I am
pleased with the guys’ efforts tonight.”
On the unity circle between both teams before the game: "I thought it was a cool moment for the teams.
Here are two archrival teams, coming together, knowing that they are trying to create some meaningful change.
I thought that it was a good opportunity for those guys to show and demonstrate that together. I was really
proud of that.”
On the running game tonight: "In our first game, we didn't run it as well as we wanted to. We ran better when
we went out to Oakland. We knew that it was going to be a good line of scrimmage game again. It really starts
up front with the communication. We knew that this crowd here was going to be into it, and they certainly were.
A real point of emphasis for us offensively was whether or not we could work at the line of scrimmage and
make the calls in and out of the no huddle. I thought that the offensive line in particular did a good job tonight.”
On the momentum change after the Falcons recovered the muffed punt in Saints territory:
“That was really the moment that kind of got us going. We had a tough first drive and had to punt. Those are the
moments when someone can set it off like that. You never know who it is going to be. I thought that it was a
really good turning point early in the game for us.”
On the Falcons offense scoring touchdowns on five consecutive drives: "We wanted to really be aggressive.
We wanted to make sure that if it was a fourth down attempt, we needed to convert. We wanted to make sure in
every way that we wanted to stay aggressive and keep attacking. The team did a very nice job of mixing up the
run and the pass, knowing that there were going to be certain things there for us. We were focused on how they
were going to play towards Julio (Jones) in terms of coverage, because we knew we would have to adjust our
game-plan based on that. Sometimes a game just goes that way. Sometimes you have to wait into the game to get
some of the looks, but I was pleased with our ability to keep converting.”
On Deion Jones: "I think that everybody was just so excited for him. Tonight, he had a special message on his
cleats that was very personal to him about growing up here and what happened for him 10 years ago.”
