Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after the 31-24 victory over the Panthers on Sunday:
On what went well today other than him running over people: "Our execution was better than it had been before. Proud of the way the guys worked all week. When we got our chances, we nailed them across the board today. So I thought the execution was great, and that was kind of it."
On the third-and-5, whether he's thinking to get the five or if something came up to try to get the whole thing: "Yeah, I felt like I was past the first down, but I wasn't quite sure, and I didn't want to slide in that situation or go down because you don't know where you're going to get marked, and so I felt like something was below my feet and figured I'd go up and try and protect the ball as best I could, and I guess it was a good decision."
On the touchdowns it almost looked like he was pleading his case because it was hard to tell: "Yeah, I was about two yards in the end zone, so I knew it was a touchdown, and when they didn't signal, I was letting them know that it was a touchdown, and they finally decided it was. I guess it was a good use of lobbying."
On the two touchdown runs – is he going to try to lobby for more: "No, not at all. I can't remember the last time I had two touchdown runs."
On what Tevin Coleman was able to do today that made him so successful: "Well, to me it starts up front. Our offensive line did an excellent job today both in the run game and in the pass game. But Tevin, when he got his opportunity, obviously with Devonta Freeman being down, you never want to have that happen, but we're so fortunate to have two explosive backs, guys that can carry the load for us, and he did a great job today. I mean, he got what we blocked for and more. I mean, his ability to break guys off, double people up and keep runs going, and knife runs at the end, get low and get those extra yards, it was impressive to watch. And then I thought Ito Smith came in and did a really nice job for us, too. Ran the ball effectively. I'm proud of the way we ran the ball today because it's really not an easy defense to run the football against."
On what he thought of Calvin Ridley's play for a touchdown: "Oh, I thought it was great. He ran a great route, really great patience versus man-to-man coverage, to be able to kind of reset his stem of the route and be able to separate at the top, that's what he's capable of doing, creating separation. I was proud and happy for Calvin. But beyond that, I thought he played really well for us today in the return game and also catching the ball for us."
On his thoughts when Demontae Kazee went out of the game: "To me, it's always about the next drive, and how are we going to operate better the next drive. That's as simple as it is. What did we see the drive before, what are we going to do the next drive, how can we go out there and try and take advantage of some of the things that they're doing. I've played long enough to know that games all shake out differently. Some start great, some don't finish great, some don't start great and then finish really well. You've just got to keep your head down and keep playing and keep trying to exploit whatever you're going against as you're going forward."
On whether he felt more pressure or more of a difficult week: "I mean, they're all tough after you lose. It's never fun when you lose games. But beyond that, for me, no. It's one of those things that - the things you have to deal with as players in this league now is - it's so popular. You're going to get the good, you're going to get the bad with it, and how you process that and how you handle that, and then how you put it aside and go work on your craft, to me determines kind of the mindset of the team. And I think our mindset is really good. We've got guys that understand there's going to be a lot of that that goes along with it, but they're able to separate from it and go out and do their job day in and day out and work the way that you need to work in order to be, successful. I thought we did a good job of that this week."
On how soon he relays that message to his teammates to try to keep them even keel on the playing field after a loss like that:
"Immediately. That's one of the things you talk about. I think that's one of the things you learn with experience, too, and you want to share with the younger guys, is that they all count for one. No matter if it happens at the beginning of the year, late in the year, you've got to keep your head down, keep working and preparing really well to give you an opportunity to play well week in and week out. That's the mindset you have to have, and I think our guys do a good job with that."
On Wes Schweitzer's performance today and how far he has come:
"Well, I think he's come a long way in the handful of years he's been with us. I know the experience of starting and playing last year is going to help him moving forward for sure. But we have a lot of confidence in him, too. That was a competitive battle up front for those guys and who was going to start. You know, it's disappointing. You never want to see somebody go down, but we're fortunate to have experienced guys that are able to step in there and do a nice job for us."
On how important was it to get so many receivers involved today:
"Yeah, I mean, it's always nice to get everybody involved and kind of distribute the ball. But it depends on what they're doing, and for us we saw a lot of zone coverage today, and when you see that, you're going to try and find the pockets in the defense to take advantage of them. The ball kind of got spread around today, and I was proud of the way that when everybody got their opportunity, they stepped up and made plays."
On whether there was a little ratcheting up of contention, especially when he tried to out-Cam Newton on that second touchdown: "Listen, I'm not going to out-Cam Cam. He can run. I mean, he can legitimately run. Mine was just the opportunity presented itself. When you're that close, I felt like I could make the play to get in, and that's kind of as simple as it was."
On the crowd and how that changes the mood of the game: "Well, you could feel it. You could feel the energy in the stadium today and the guys getting fired up. It's fun. I mean, that's what you live for as a player. That's what you want as a player. You want to feel that energy, want to feel that excitement, and any time you score, it feels good."
On how he describes that drive going into the half: "It was huge. To get points prior to the half, your odds of winning go way up when you do that. I thought we executed really nicely in our two-minute situation. We took what was there, created some explosives, and then got our opportunity in the red area and took advantage of it. I thought Steve Sarkisian did a great job calling the plays and guys did a great job when their number was called to go out there and make plays."
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