SEATTLE — Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after the 27-23 win over the Seahawks on Sunday:
OPENING STATEMENT: It was really awesome to watch those guys fight through that game and our players and staff, hats off to them. It’s a resilient group, and we were out here all week and we were able to get that win. It was a really great effort by our players and staff and really our whole football staff. I want to thank them. I’m not going to sit here and name every single person, but there’s a lot that went into this trip. And very grateful, because everybody out there, it’s been a great week at the University of Washington. Can’t thank them enough, either. Unless they’re playing North Carolina, I’ll be rooting on the Huskies, University of Washington, so can’t thank coach (Kalen) DeBoer and his staff enough, either. So with that, I’ll open up for questions.
Q. Coach, the NFL security situation, what did they tell you about that?
A: Yeah, all they told us was a drone, and I’ve probably read too many CIA fiction thrillers, maybe too many Brad Thor books. So I’m looking up, and they’re telling me to get over to the sideline, there’s a drone. Some interesting thoughts go through your head when they told us to go to the bench, but luckily nothing happened.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Q. And the defense on that last drive, Grady (Jarrett’s) sack on third down?
A: Yeah. Zo (Lorenzo Carter), too, right? Zo got one early in the drive. It felt like a heavyweight fight. That’s a good football team, and I’ve got the utmost respect for Pete Carroll and his staff, and we knew it was going to be a tough environment. It’s one of the better environments in all of sports. Coming up here to Seattle on the road, it’s just loud. I mean, they’ve got a reputation. And they were on brand today. So, for the most part, it’s never perfect. We talk about progress. There’s a lot of things we can clean up and a lot of things I can do better, but very happy to get a win.
Q. The run game, you stayed with it?
A: Absolutely.
Q. And it busted open there in the third a little bit?
A: Yeah. Depending on the game plan, thought we’d have a little more access there for some of the other guys and so there’s some things we wanted to do early, and we’re never going to stay with it. It was cool to watch those guys finish the game. We needed a first, and hats off to the offense and C.P. (Cordarrelle Patterson) for finishing it out.
Q. Where do you feel like Cordarrelle is going to be progressing from last season?
A: It’s all of us. Like I tell folks all the time, it’s not just speaking words. I mean, even though he’s 31, he’s continuing to evolve, and he works to improve. And it’s fun to coach him.
Q. Where did you feel like –
A: It’s just different matchups. You have different matchups up front. It’s a different scheme than we’ve seen the first two weeks. So, we’ll continue to evolve. That’s the whole thing is how do we get better. And you gotta be critical and objective, and I’ll do that on the plane. We got a big game next week at home, Cleveland. They got a couple days’ jump on us. So we gotta turn the page quick and get ready for a big game at home.
Q. You had talked about being better about this team, but how important was it today?
A: Absolutely. That’s what it’s about ... You’re right. I said it last week. No moral victories, but you gotta be objective and understand there’s progress being made, and it’s good to get a win and breakthrough. So now the challenge is can we sustain that, can we improve with the big game coming up at home?
Q. Can you assess Marcus’ performance today?
A: Yeah. I thought like all our players, never perfect. Made some big plays for us. You know, it’s the job of the quarterback, right? It’s the job you signed up for, so you dissect a play or two, just like trying to be too cute before the half. I won’t do that again. You try to do that, try to be greedy, and it’s kind of an oh, well, but it almost was whatever. So, I won’t do that again. But same thing with the quarterback. He’s trying to make a play at the end. He made some really big-time throws, staring down the pressure, throws it to Drake London. He’s hot. And no flinch in Marcus’ game. Really great poise on the road. Some things we changed up that he handled really well. Situation, like I said, never perfect. Same thing with A.J. Terrell. He’s got a special mindset. There he was on island again today. You talk about growth and improvement. Those guys aren’t going to hide. And I appreciate both him and Marcus.
Q. A lot is made of the youth on this team, but when it really came down to it in the final moments of the game, what did you see from the veteran leaders ... to step up?
A: Yeah. Those guys do a terrific job. But it’s the mindset of the whole team. I’ve been around teams where people were wishing and hoping. It happens. And we’ll continue to evaluate that. And trying to make a play, trying to do too much and the ball spit out. So, yeah, nobody wants to see that happen. But we’ve been around this long enough. We know you gotta play 60 minutes and maybe sometimes more, but there was no flinch on the sideline, and that’s what’s awesome is nobody sat there, defense said, hey, ready to go, and I can’t remember the exact order, but I believe Zo came out, got a sack. Again, they converted one, they made a play. It felt like a heavyweight fight. It’s a tough team. It’s a tough place to play. I got a lot of respect. They wanted to run the ball today, so did we. And we were last team standing. So proud of our guys.
Q. What was the decision to run the defensive line when you guys ran a good portion of the game?
A: It’s how you break it down. There’s so many different looks, to be multiple. I know the personnel, whether you’re trying to break it down as 3-3 or 2-5 or whatever it really is. But there’s multiple fronts you can play, and we threw a lot of different personnel groups, and we’re trying to build this thing right. Some guys got some more snaps today. Guys like (Nate) Landman and Bernie (Jared Bernhardt). They played a little more today, which was good for them. We need to continue to develop depth in these young guys, and it takes everybody to win.
Q. What did you see out of Troy Andersen?
A: Yeah. Bring him along and threw some different packages. Again, go through the tape and we’ll talk about it as a staff and go put a plan in for Cleveland, see what we need to do to try to win that game.
Q. With C.P., people look at that stat line and see 141 rushing yards and 8.3 average per carry, but for this offense live to get into the second level, what did you see from that group?
A: We pride ourselves on it takes all 11, and Marcus in certain areas, and he’s legitimate. You gotta account for him. So that could change your number count. But we pride ourselves on everybody is out there and blocking part of our game. We don’t have receivers that take plays off. That’s not our mindset. Going out there just like the linemen it’s a coordinated effort, and those guys were finishing, and they sprung that big run by C.P. So really good effort by our team. Like I said, it wasn’t perfect. We know we got things to clean up.
Q. The timing of the stoppage it looked like the run game was rolling there. Were you at all frustrated?
A: No. Talking about the drone?
Q. Yeah.
A: It is what it is, you know. You can control the things you want to. Nobody can control that. I appreciate the people looking out for everybody that’s in that stadium. I mean, as we all know, there are some bizarre things that can happen around the world. I’d rather be safe. So that didn’t frustrate me.
Q. You watched Colby (Gossett) a little bit. What was your sense of how he played left guard?
A: Colby Gossett? Thought he played pretty solid. I’ll have to watch the film but thought it was a pretty productive day on the offense. We punted once. Obviously, we’re greedy. We were three for four in the red zone. Really that’s seven – is that right? Fact check me. Four for seven on third down. Had a lot of third downs. That means probably a pretty efficient day.
Q. Have you ever been involved in something like that with a drone?
A: Not with a drone, that I can remember. I think the game got slowed down when something caught on fire a couple years ago in Tennessee in pregame. I think it slowed the game down for a second, but not a drone, not that I can think of.
Q. And how pleased have you been with Dre?
A: Very. I’ve been pleased with a lot of those young guys, Tyler (Allgeier), Bernie. All those guys contributed. Frank Darby. Frank’s done a good job and with the plan, and happy to see him out there and contributing. Feleipe (Franks) a little bit. And got so many young guys that are stepping up.
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