Here’s what several Falcons players said after the 40-14 win over the Cardinals on Sunday:
JULIO JONES, wide receiver
On the team's performance: "Matt (Ryan) extended some drives by running the ball with his feet and the run game was going for us today. It helped us out tremendously. Guys were just making plays everywhere. We talked this week about our fight. The fight has always been there. We aren't a team to shy away from competition. We are always off like one play off here and there. It's about details and focusing. When we got our opportunities, we made the best of them."
On facing off with Patrick Peterson: "It was good. Pat has always been a great competitor. I love his effort and competition. It's always fun going against Pat."
On the team's running game: "When you have to put that extra safety in the box and leave one-on-one outside, it makes the game easier for us to go out there and make plays. Tevin (Coleman) did a great job for us today. He's a special running back with great speed and great vision."
On empty seats in the stands: "My thing is to play football. I don't look in the stands for people. At the end of the day, people on the outside can't control what's going on, on the field. For me, I have to give my all every game regardless of people being in the stands or not."
ALEX MACK, center
On the offensive performance: "Our running backs did a really good job of getting to the second level, making people miss and making some big runs."
On what was working for the offense: "I think the running backs had a really good game. I think we opened some holes and they really made the most of them and made people miss and really broke some tackles and kept running."
On other factors of the success of the game: "I think the defense did a really good job. They did a really good job of getting the ball back, giving us opportunities; really keeping the game tight early on and letting us really try to establish our offense. Early on, we weren't hitting all cylinders, and we were able to stay in the game, keep at it and started clicking."
DESMOND TRUFANT, cornerback
On the key to holding Arizona to 14 points: "We just put it all together. Turnovers, coverage, pass rush, we just played aggressive and that was definitely our most complete game. So I'm happy we got the win."
On what he saw from his perspective in regard to the pass rush today: "They were just being aggressive. It all starts with "get off" on the defense. I thought on the back end we were tight in coverage as well and he didn't have anywhere to go. So, it works hand in hand, those guys up front did a hell of a job."
On if the blitz was more effective than usual today: "We were mixing it up, bringing a lot of different pressures, so it was really good man. I thought all around as a defense we played pretty well."
ROBERT ALFORD, cornerback
On the defenses three takeaways today: "It was a big step for us, coming into this game that was our key thing; we wanted to come away with three takeaways, and today we did it. We executed each and every day in practice and it pushed over into today."
On coach Dan Quinn and the team wanting to win out: "Oh, heck yea. That's all of us in here. We're with the coaching staff, it's not over until the last game. Like I said before, this team has a lot of heart, we got a lot of grind and a lot of people who compete. So it's never over for us, no matter what the record is."
On snapping the Falcons five-game losing streak: "It feels good. We go into each and every week expecting to win, so to come away with the win today was big and now it's on to Carolina."
GRADY JARRETT, defensive tackle
On the defensive effort:"It was good to come out and have a good showing on defense today, get a couple turnovers, a couple forced fumbles, Deion Jones got a touchdown. So, it was good to come out and make some stuff happen on D."
On getting a win after a tough losing streak: "It feels great, man. It's tough going on that five-game slide but a win is a win, it felt good and we definitely want to go out strong and control what's in front of us."
On if the defense switched their strategy in order to get more sacks today: "Not necessarily, the situation of the game was different. The situations allowed us to run pressures and go hunt better. So, we haven't changed anything up, the situation was just better."
On how the defense affected the offense's performance: "It's good for us to get the ball back, keep the game tight, stop them from getting points, and enable us to have the full use of the offense. We weren't fighting from behind, we weren't worried about anything, we were able to keep cool and stick with the game plan, and I think we really made it work."
On moving forward with the remainder of the season: "Just keep growing, keep trying to get better; every game matters because we have a lot of pride. We just keep fighting on to the next one."
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