Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the win over the 49ers:
On putting up 40-plus points in back-to-back games without Julio Jones:
“Trust me. Whenever [Julio] is ready to go he will help us out for sure. The last two weeks and specifically today we’ve had different guys step up. Aldrick [Robinson] stepped up today and I can’t say enough about how happy I am for him and the way he played. He made two awesome catches. One where I was rolling to my right and threw it to him contested on the sideline. He made a really good catch with strong hands. The other one was on a crossing route right to left. Actually, I threw a bad ball. He went down and was able to catch that. Just really proud of the way he played and it couldn’t happen to a better guy. I think that was his first career 100-yard receiving game. He’s been a guy that has worked really hard and been really diligent for us all year. When his number has been called at different times throughout the year he has played really well.”
On Devonta Freeman’s rushing performance:
“Devonta [Freeman] played really, really well and he’s special for us. He’s a special player, but it doesn’t get going without those guys up front. I think our offensive line played extremely well and allowed all of our running backs, and specifically Devonta, to get to the second level. Our guys are so good and Devonta is so good that when he gets into the second level of the defense it’s a problem. He’s a great slasher and a great runner.”
On whether today’s verdict was a result of the 49ers’ struggling:
“I think you can always throw records out. In this league, it’s tough every week regardless of who you are going against. For us, we have to play up to our standard. We talk about that day in and day out in our building. It’s about playing to the level we are capable of with whoever is out there and try not to miss a beat. I thought offensively we did that today. We still have a few things that we can clean up and do better and that’s what we’ve got to work on this week.”
On whether he has ever been a part of an offense with this many weapons:
“At [William] Penn Charter we were running the triple option. We were not firing on all cylinders like we are currently. We were missing one key component to that and that was speed at the quarterback position. I’ve been a part of some good teams for sure and some good offenses. All of them have been a little different. I think we are different this year. We are very deep and we’ve got a good group of guys. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how we compare to some of those other teams. We just need to do our job week in and week out. We have been able to do that a number of times this year.”
Credit: Curtis Compton
Credit: Curtis Compton
On putting the opponent away early for the second straight week:
“I think it’s probably the first time in my career that I haven’t played at the end of two games in a row on the right end. That’s a good trend. It doesn’t happen very often and so you are always pleased when you have built a lead like that in the fourth quarter. It’s hard to do. It’s really hard to do, but we’ve been able to do it the last two weeks. That was a really good thing for us.”
On the advantage that comes from resting in the fourth quarter late in the season:
“I think more important than that is I didn’t really get hit today. Our offensive line did such a great job I didn’t really get hit the entire day. When you have days like that, especially this time of year, they are always nice.”
On his thoughts about next week’s game being on Saturday:
“We have played on much shorter notice than this with the Thursday game. We have one less day. One less off-day than we would normally have. I don’t think it will affect our preparation at all. We’ll get back to work tomorrow, put this one behind us and get started on our game plan on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. We’ll be ready and we’ll be prepared.”
On the running backs’ success making his job easier:
“Any time you can get the run game going that’s always an objective for us week in and week out is to try to run the football. We were certainly successful with that today. I thought our running backs did an awesome job across the board. Devonta [Freeman] added another three touchdowns, but it all starts up front for us. Our offensive line is the catalyst to get us going and I thought our offensive line played extremely well today.”
On what playing to the team’s standard says about their football team:
“I think our veteran guys talked about it all week and Dan [Quinn] talks about it all the time. Regardless of where we are going or who we are playing against our preparation and our focus has to be at a championship level week in and week out. I thought it was this week, but I’ve played long enough to know also that you’ve got to throw records out. Anybody in this league any week can go out there and beat anybody. When you are in those situations you just have to play as well as you are capable of playing and I thought we did that today.”
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