ORCHARD PARK, NY -- Here’s what Falcons coach Arthur Smith had to say after 29-15 loss to the Buffalo on Sunday:
On his evaluation of the team’s play overall: “Well, I think, stating the obvious, we came up short there, but our guys battle. We ended the half well and we had our chances, but credit to Buffalo. They grinded out some drives when they had to have them late, and we came up short.”
On the Bills offensive performance: “They did a nice job at times running the football. Josh Allen, he’s a terrific player and he extended plays. We got him a few times and were able to get some turnovers, but he was able to extend some drives with his legs. He’s a good football player.”
On how tough it was dealing with COVID issues this week with several players being elevated to the practice squad for Sunday’s game: “It’s not tough. There are obstacles. We’ll adjust. Those were our circumstances, and we’ll adapt to whatever our circumstances are, but I don’t look at it [as a challenge].”
On an update on Kyle Pitts: “We’ll get a clearer picture, hopefully, tomorrow. He tried to go, but until they get an MRI, like most Mondays, I don’t have an update right now.”
On whether he thought the taunting penalty on Matt Ryan was officiated properly: “I’m not going to comment on that. The officials have a hard job.”
On whether he asked Matt Ryan what he said to be called for a taunting penalty: “That would be a great question for Matt. I understand what happened there, circumstances, but it does no good right now to comment on the officiating.”
On whether he had to tell Matt Ryan anything after that series of events: “Well, you get there – obviously they ruled it short – so you’d like to be able to – I understand why the way it is. … I’m going to stay away from that one.”
On how tough it was not having Kyle Pitts and Hayden Hurst for most of the second half: “It is what it is. Everybody’s got to deal with something. That’s not our mindset. I don’t look at it as ‘tough’. Those are the circumstances. It’s our job to adapt. Credit to Parker Hesse. There’s a guy who was a defensive end out of Iowa in a class with (T.J.) Hockeson and (Noah) Fant and he turned himself into a tight end in the National Football League. He stepped up. We’ve had guys all year, receivers battle, we battle, but we came up short.”
On the decision to punt in Buffalo territory and whether going into the wind was a factor in that decision: “Yeah, it was, but we still have to handle that better. You don’t want to waste a timeout there. We had an equipment issue. It wasn’t communicated well. It went under 15. Obviously, based on the results after that we would’ve just taken the delay but at the time, we needed to get something out of it, and we didn’t. Where that is in that end zone, that’s a tough end zone to kick a decent field goal into.”
On whether he felt the offense ran the ball enough: “We did what we felt we had to do. They grinded it out. They had the ball a good bit. I thought for the most part we were able to move it. We had some decent runs in there. Clearly, we’d love to have the ball more. We have to do a better job of extending drives.”
On whether Qadree Ollison is dealing with an injury: “He was dealing with something, yes. We’ll have to see. Just like with all of our guys, until we get to Monday to see the doctors, you usually get MRIs. I can give you a better answer then.”
On the Bills defensive front’s pressure on Matt Ryan: “I think what they do an underrated job of – they’ve got a good scheme, good depth in the middle – but a lot of those where I don’t think they get enough credit is they’re able to mash things underneath, make you get off your first read at times and makes you hold the ball, which allows them to get those sacks. It all goes into play. It’s a good defense, good scheme.”
On whether the offense’s rhythm was affected by a lack of time of possession: “I think we had our chances to extend drives and we didn’t, but certainly your possessions are limited, so your number is going to be skewed. No different than the Detroit game. We were able to win that one, but it wasn’t like we had a lot of offensive plays.”
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