What Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said after a 23-20 win over the Giants Monday:
On getting second win in a row: "I think it was huge for us to get the job done tonight. To inch our way closer to .500 is a positive for us. It was a tough win. It took all three phases all night. But I'm proud of the effort across the board. That showed up for 60 minutes. It was good for us and now a good chance for us to get some rest as well."
On offensive adjustments: "Their front seven played really well. They had a good scheme for our run game. We stuck to it and used the play-action pass really well, effectively with those guys getting down hill. Then the run, on the third-and-1, was just excellent executing by our guys up front in a pressure situation. They came out the back end. That was great to see."
On Georgio Tavecchio: "It was unbelievable. I think that kick was good from about 65 yards. It was going. He did a great for us. Coming in on a short notice and playing really well. ... The confidence that (Dan Quinn) has in that situation to let it rip. Great kick by him. Great execution. I'm happy for him. That was fun to see."
On Tevin Coleman's TD run: "It's huge in that situation you have to get a first down. They brought a safety pressure off the left side. We had a run that was going to the right and they were trying to roll two guys over the top of Julio. That opened it up. There was nobody left on that right side. Good timely execution by our guys up front. You have to stick to and believe that the next one is going to come out of the back end and it certainly did there."
On Marvin Hall's touchdown catch: "What a series by (offensive coordinator Steve) Sarkisian. What great play calling on back to back play, creating explosive on two plays in a row. That's the belief that we have. Those guys practice hard all week. When they get their opportunity and they are the guy, we trust them to go make play. Marv ran an excellent route. That's something that we worked out quite a bit. Whether if it's in the spring, summer or during the week. I'm happy for him. He's put in a lot of hard work and it's showing off. He's making a lot of good plays for us."
On Fusco's injury: "That part is difficult. When you see guys going down. Personally, they put so much into it. You feel terrible for them. This is a chance for us to get a little bit of rest this week and kind of evaluate where we are at. I thought Ben did a nice job coming in for us. He's a guy that has played a lot for us through the years. He's another guy that we trust to go out there and execute at a high level and I thought he did."
On the defense and their performance tonight: "I thought they kept us in it. They kind of kept us in the driver's seat the entire night with their play, their aggressiveness. I thought they tackled really well, they were physical, got after the passer, so I'm proud of them. They have been working really hard and they played really well tonight."
On whether he would be more excited if the identity of the offense became more of a pass-heavy offense: "Whatever it takes to win. That's the mindset that we have every week. We have confidence in the run game, we have confidence in the pass game and whatever's hot that day or whatever our advantage is, we feel good about going either direction."
On the defense giving up a field goal late in the first half and the importance of the offense coming back to match those scores before halftime: "It's huge. Getting points before the half is critical. I thought our execution there was, it could have been better, I thought I had an opportunity for [Austin] Hooper for a touchdown pass that I missed a little bit behind him. We could have come away with a touchdown there, but the three points was big. So I'm proud of the fact that we got the points, but always thinking it could have been maybe a little bit better. But those are critical in terms of winning games, points before the half is a huge factor in determining the outcome."
On whether the bye week is good in terms of rest, or after winning two games in a row it hurts: "Yeah, you would rather go into the bye week on a win than a loss. That's for sure. It is. We need some rest, we have had different guys banged up at different times. All of us need a rest to kind of refresh and get ready for the second half of the season. And I think that will benefit us moving forward."
