Here’s what quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the 38-19 win over the Cardinals on Sunday:
QUARTERBACK MATT RYAN
On Taylor Gabriel finding the end zone twice:
“They were great calls by Kyle (Shanahan) at the time and timing it up against their pressure. It makes your job pretty easy as a quarterback to just flick it out there and then watch. On all of them, to get it going the offensive line needs to do a great job, your wide receivers need to do a great job, and your running backs in getting that thing going. I thought we did across the board. We did a really nice job with that, and then Taylor [Gabriel] finished it off really well. He made great individual plays on both of those to get in the end zone. They were huge for us and got us going with critical plays.”
On Taylor Gabriel making plays:
“It was awesome. It was awesome to see. I had a pretty good vantage point too. I just threw it and then watched. They were really good runs. He just has a great feel in the open field to find the open spot. We were really happy to have those plays today.”
On the importance of taking control of the game and closing it out:
“I thought the finish was exactly what we wanted. Obviously, we didn’t finish out the half the way we wanted to and didn’t have a really good start to the second half, but nobody panicked. Nobody blinked. We came back out and outscored them 21-6 from that point on in the second half. That’s what you need to do. They are a good football team with a really good defense and aggressive scheme with pass rushing and blitzing. I thought we weathered the storm at certain times really well and played really aggressively.”
On whether he’s ever been sacked four times in one series:
“I don’t know. You’d have to check. That was not our best drive for sure. I thought we responded really well too. We knew going into this game that when you go against a defense like theirs and a scheme like theirs that there is going to be plays that turn out like that. I thought the great part was that we responded. We had a 75-plus yard drive the following drive that we overcame some things and continued to battle. The resiliency and the toughness of this team is fun to be a part of. There’s a lot of really good football in front of us because we can correct a lot of things.”
On his thoughts on Trufant’s injury:
“It’s tough on game days because you can’t really think about that too much. It will be nice to find some time after or tomorrow to be able to talk to him. It’s tough. Anytime you lose guys it’s tough, but I thought our guys responded well today. I thought they played tough and played well. They started off not the way you want to, but then they got their rhythm and played physical and tough the rest of the game. It’s disappointing any time you lose a player like that, but you have to have other guys step up. I thought Jalen Collins came up with a couple really good plays for us today.”
On the Falcons’ running game and its effectiveness:
“I thought our run game was outstanding. I thought our offensive line played extremely well both in the pass game and in the run game. To me, that’s where you win football games, at the line of scrimmage. I know everybody talks about what you do on the outside and throwing touchdowns. None of that happens unless your guys up front play really well. That is a formidable bunch we went up against today and our guys stepped up to the task. I think [Arizona’s defense] was number one in the league in total yards on defense and certainly against the pass. I thought we threw the ball well and ran the ball well today.”
On how the team regrouped after a tough series to open the second half:
“We came into it knowing they were going to make plays. They are a good defense and very talented across the board. You understand that at certain times throughout the game they are going to make plays. The key is to get back to the game plan and execution one play at a time. I think there was no real discussion after that first drive. We all know that wasn’t good. Let’s get on to our next drive and focus on getting the ball in the end zone the next drive.”
On whether the offense had a complete performance today:
“I think it could have been better honestly. We had a chance before the half to come away with some more points. When you get those opportunities, you want to take advantage of them. We didn’t in that situation, but I thought we played well across the board both in the run game and in the passing game.”
On what he expected from Taylor Gabriel heading into the season:
“From the first day he came and we saw him run, I was like man this guy is good. He’s really good. He’s really fast, really explosive, great change of direction and he has gone above and beyond what we have asked of him this year. Coming in, I don’t think he played in week one and might have played in week two. Everything we’ve asked him to do he’s done it really well and he’s certainly been a boost for us offensively.”
On his thoughts on getting sacked by both safeties during second half’s opening drive:
“Is that right? Let’s try and not let that happen again. That would be a good thing to not do.” *Laughs*
