QUARTERBACK MATT RYAN
On bring the team together in the third quarter for a pep talk:
“In those situations you have to remember that at the end of the day, what’s our objective and our objective is to win the game. In order to do that I felt like we needed to keep our composure. That was it. Just a reminder to play to the whistle and not worry about all of that stuff that was going on. That’s what happens this time of the year. Games get tough and physical. I thought our guys stepped up to that challenge and keep their composure really, really well.”
On the offense:
“I think we went where we should with the ball. When they played zone coverage and dropped their guys deep, we checked down and our running backs did a good job of getting as many yards as they could in those situatiosn. When they went man to man coverage, I give our running backs, tight ends and wide receiver a lot of credit because they beat some really good corners and tough guys to go against in man to man coverage.”
DEFENSIVE TACKLE JONATHAN BABINEAUX
“We knew we had to make him uncomfortable in the pocket. We had him frustrated and running around. We were able to get some balls over thrown or thrown out of bounds for a stop or a snack.”
WIDE RECEIVER MOHAMED SANU
On the pick play:
“I just saw it as a touchdown. I ran off the ball and Julio ran underneath me.”
SAFETY RICARDO ALLEN
On rebounding after the opening drive:
“The first 15 minutes are usually the toughest to figure out because that is their game plan. Once we saw what they were trying to do to us, our sideline coaching is amazing so we were ready for everything they had.”
On the penalty during Devin Hester’s punt return:
“The penalty was huge for us. He popped a couple of them out. The penalty pushed them back and the safety jumped us up. It changed the whole dynamic of the game.”
On team’s physicality:
“We go out there and we are going to make you pay. If they didn’t want to test us deep and they wanted to throw it under, we are going to come out and make you pay.”
SAFETY KEANU NEAL
On the defense as a whole:
“We are growing. We’re young but we are starting to mold together as a unit and it showed today. They drove and scored on the first drive but after that, we buckled down and really handled business.”
On playing against Russell Wilson:
“We wanted to keep him in the pocket for the most part and we did a great job with that. Sometimes he had to force some balls and it allowed us to make some plays with him. Man-to-man we covered and zone we held our own. Overall, we did a great job.”
On the atmosphere in the Georgia Dome:
“This was amazing. The fans and the atmosphere were loud. It was good to play here and I really had a great time playing here.”
LINEBACKER DEION JONES
On playing in the playoffs:
“This is when it gets tougher. This is when guys start playing hard-nosed ball and try to finish out the season well. We have to do the same. We still have to have that grit and finish.”
On his interception:
“I saw Jalen [Collins] and De’Vondre [Campbell] make a good play on the ball. I was really just trying to get over there and help out with the tackle. The ball was still up and I just knew that I had to grab it before anyone else got there.”
On rebounding after the opening drive:
“Guys just buckled down and played fast. We talked, played hard-nosed ball, and went after it.”
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