Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after a 14-9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday:
On the third downs:
"I thought we had too many third-and-7s. I think one of the points of emphasis for us during the week was to try and be efficient on first and second down. We didn't do a good job of that. They are a very good defense. We knew it was going to be tough sledding at times, but we've got to be more productive and put ourselves in better positions. When we get our chances on third downs, we've got to make some plays."
On the penalties during the first drive:
"When you're going against a very good football team like Minnesota with an excellent defense, you have to take advantage of the opportunities that you get. I thought that was a really good opportunity for us, but we just couldn't overcome the penalties. We overcame two of them and kept getting first downs, but we couldn't overcome that third. It's just too difficult when you make mistakes against a good football team. I thought they were aggressive penalties, but those are ones that are tough to overcome. I thought we had a really nice drive at the beginning of the second half and had a third down opportunity where I missed low to Mohamed Sanu. I've got to play better than that. I've got to put it in position for him to make a play. I thought on those two drives we really had opportunities to score touchdowns. When you're going against Minnesota's defense and you get your chances, you've got to take advantage of it."
On what the Vikings' defense did to hold Julio Jones to two catches:
"It's just one of those things. They did a good job of kind of shutting all of us down. We didn't play very well. We didn't play very well on offense as a unit, but I give credit to them. They made plays today."
On not going for it on fourth down late in game down by five points:
"No, we trust Dan [Quinn]. He's going to make those decisions. We have one of the best kickers in the league and our defense had been playing well the entire day. We're one hundred percent behind it."
On the short amount of time to look at this game before Thursday's game:
"Maybe that's the best thing. You put this one out of your mind and you get going. So, we'll get ready for Thursday night. We'll get some rest tonight. We'll get back to work, and I think we'll be just fine on Thursday. We just have to get our mindset right, and everything that we want is still in front of us."
On having Devonta Freeman back:
"Yeah, absolutely. I thought our run game was actually pretty good. I thought we were efficient with it.
We had a couple before we got behind the chains, but it's always good to have Devonta Freeman back. He shows how great of a player he is. We had some opportunities in the run game that were close. We had some shoestring tackles, where Devonta bounced out to the right. They make the play there, but we were close. It's always good to have him back, and he's going to make a ton of plays for us down the stretch."
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