Here’s what Falcons coach Dan Quinn said after the 41-17 loss to the Steelers on Sunday:
Opening statement: "I just got done with the team and the message I shared with them, for us to become the team we need to be, it has to be from us. Truth is the second half clearly we missed the standard that we uphold for one another today. Coming in at the half it was 13-10 and we had our thoughts and chances on how it would go in the second half. We completely missed our mark. A blocked punt that led to a touchdown, a sack force fumble that led to a touchdown, and we scored one time. Our run game was not up to the standard that we hold one another to. I thought the pass protection wasn't what we wanted, and third down defensively, I thought was a problem, not just in the second half, but for the entire day. That's what I told the team and what I am sharing with you today. For us, the answer is all within our own locker room to play like we're capable of playing, so I am glad to open it up to your questions today."
On what they wanted the offense to do coming out at the half after the turnover right before the half: "Yeah, that was a time I thought for us to now go establish. We had been talking for a good while about owning some of these moments and I thought that was the time to go and put us in a good drive together to get rolling. We've been pretty good usually coming out at the second half, and in openers as well to get our drives going and to get points and we didn't do that today. But that was certainly the goal – us coming out and getting some points and our message was about us attacking. We finished with only one score in the second half, not the attacking we were looking for."
On him saying last week he was reaching record numbers and if he still feels the same way: "I do. I stand by that mark in terms of our team. I recognize it's into our fifth game but by no stretch did we want to paint a picture that the second half today was what we like to be. We clearly have work to do and construction underway, so we've got to make sure this team – for us to play like we're capable of – it has to be in all three phases. We picked and chose in a lot of games, one side playing well or special teams playing well but for us to play at our best, it's going to take all three phases and we clearly missed that this afternoon."
On if he is confident given the teams' injuries that there are enough players left to be a good team: "I am, and I recognize the question of if we have enough fire power with some of the injuries there. I do, and in some cases, there's some on the job training and we expect that. But, by no stretch is our entire team decimated and by no stretch are the guys we have playing not up and capable for the job. I stand by who we are and the talent that we have to play well. We missed it this afternoon in the second half especially."
On if he felt pleased about the communication and the tackling today: "After the first drive, I was. To see a long play happen on a missed tackle, you know that was discouraging, but I thought the defense stood up, made some stops, certainly we had [Damontae] Kazee's interception at the end of the half I thought was a big play for us. But there were some guys that, from a communication standpoint, I was more pleased with Kazee. You felt more of his urgency and how he had to play."
On if it's surprising when Julio [Jones] doesn't get a touch until the fourth quarter: "Yeah, definitely not by design.
Can you talk about what you can do to make sure that doesn't happen? "Yeah well, just to make sure he gets as many touches as we can in the game. He's one of our best and most explosive players so every game, we want him involved."
On what went wrong with the offense allowing six sacks: "Yeah, we are certainly going to take a good look at that and how that happened somewhere on the play action, which is not usually the case with us for the run game and the play pass that goes with it. So we are going to take a good look at that and see where some of the issues were. It wasn't just in one spot or one player so certainly we are going to look at that deeper and have a better assessment of that for tomorrow."
On his opinion about [Foyesade] Oluokun's penalty against James Conner: "Yeah, and uncharacteristic for him for those who have met him and been around him. Not sure where that came from. The penalties that are pre-snap, or in that case post-snap, are inexcusable and certainly can convert drives and convert third downs into first downs, especially from the defensive side."
About the Author
