Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the 15-10 loss to the Eagles in the NFC Divisional game on Saturday:
On the fourth-and-two play at the goal-line: "That's a play we practice all the time. Certainly in those situations, you want to go to your best players. You know obviously rolled to the right and had an opportunity to Julio (Jones). It just didn't work out and that's disappointing. That's the life that you kind of live as a competitor when you get in those situations. You want the ball in your hand. We're disappointed that we didn't make the play, but I thought it was a good call. It felt like we had the right players in mind and the right time. We just fell a little bit short."
On the finality of what this game means: "It's difficult when you get to the playoffs and you've put in all the work throughout the year. You're in a competitive game like tonight. There's a lot of back-and-forth. It's disappointing to not get the outcome that you want. The finale of it is sometimes difficult so we're disappointed for sure. I'm proud of the effort that our guys put in throughout the entire year. Coaching staff, players, everybody worked extremely hard and gave everything they had. We fell a little bit short which is disappointing."
On third-down issues: "I think we had too many third-and-long situations to start. I think on first and second down, particularly on first down, I felt like we played behind the chains a little bit too much. Our first down efficiency needed to be a lot better than what it was so we were in more on third-and-manageables. We had chances to make plays and we didn't make them in those third-down situations which in these types of games it's what it comes down to. We knew it was going to be tough sledding but at the same time we knew we were going to have opportunities and we didn't make enough plays when we had the opportunities."
On the offense overall this season: "I think that's certainly something that we have to look at and evaluate this offseason. There were too many times that we were a little bit inconsistent. The effort, to me, was something we can count on week in and week out. I'm proud of that. Our guys gave great effort across the board. Hopefully we can find ways to improve this offseason and be a better unit next season."
On the sack after the Eagles kicked the ball out of bounds: "They had a free-safety pressure off the right side. That is one of those things that I meant when I said we put ourselves behind the chains on first down the entire night. When you have great field position like that on first down and take a sack, it's frustrating. We had a deep crossing route to Julio going the other way away from where the pressure was coming. I'll have to look at the film but from the pictures it looked like we would've had a good opportunity for it. It comes down to execution. As players we have to execute better than we did. We had some opportunities. That's a missed opportunity."
On the fourth-down completion to Jones: "That was a play that we run a lot. I think that's an option where we have Devonta Freeman running a choice route out of the backfield and Julio coming from the backside behind him. I thought Julio ran a great route. Their linebacker came over the top and played free and kind of took away the choice route. We had one-on-one with Julio so we just tried to put it in a spot where he could make a play. That was a critical play for us in that situation, kept the drive going and really gave us a chance, but we fell a little short."
On his mentality going into the offseason: "One thing I've learned playing 10 years in this league is that past success, prior success or lack of prior success really doesn't have any bearing on the following season. Teams have to come together on their own each year. I thought our team did. I felt like we dealt with a lot throughout the year. I thought we handled it well throughout the year. We are certainly disappointed that we didn't go further and get the job done. Next year is a different year and a different team. We'll evaluate the players we have when we get there and try to be the best team that we can be next year in 2018."
On the second consecutive year of a disappointing loss to end the season: "The reason I play this game is to win a championship. That's why we put all of the hard work we put in all of the time. When you don't get that result, it's difficult. Falling short is sometimes the best motivation to keep pushing forward and trying to really yearn to become a better player, to become a better team. I've never shied away from that. I always feel like it provides great motivation and there's a fire inside of me that continues to burn. I'm not going to stop working until we get that done."
