Here’s what Falcons coach Raheem Morris had to say after the 44-38 overtime loss to the Panthers on Sunday:
Opening Statement: “Really disappointing day on defense. Really proud of our young stud quarterback giving us a chance, keeping us in that football game, going out there and being able to do the things he was able to do. We couldn’t stop them. Hats off to the Carolina Panthers and their offensive scheme and what they were able to do today. You’ve got to give those guys credit where credit is due. Special teams-wise, we held up, did what we were supposed to do, but we did not come out to play today on defense. They got us and it showed.”
On the struggles on defense today and how Panther QB Bryce Young played: “He was outstanding. He was able to manipulate the pocket, move around in the pocket, find people down the field. They were able to run the football, stay on track. They were able to keep us out of the get-back-on-track situations. They were able to keep a normal D and D. Really able to manipulate everything he was able to do in the pocket. We couldn’t tackle him. When we got back there and got to him, couldn’t get him on the ground. Couldn’t find a way to find him. Then down the field he made some really good big-time throws: the Cover 2 on first-and-25. He made a throw on the sideline that was lights out. He made a couple throws down the field that were really good across the board. But to end the game there in the overtime, he made a really good throw. He made throws all day. He made plays all day. He made a demand. He had some schemed-up plays. Way too many wide-open people. A couple of schemed up plays with some gimmicks that they got us with early. Explosive in the first half. In the second half, he continued to go out there and wheel and deal. He was absolutely lights out, particularly on third down, and when it came to moving the chains.”
On how surprised he was that the defense didn’t play as well as he thought today: “Really shocked. I was really disappointed in our defense today, especially based off how they’ve been playing and how we’ve been going, how we’ve been attacking the quarterback, how we’ve been able to manipulate terms and getting after people. I was really fired up where we were going, the direction we were going. We took a step back today, a huge step back. That’s something we’ve got to go back and look at and review and find out why because those things can’t happen. Obviously, big loss losing Mike Hughes. Clark [Phillips III] was able to go out there and step in and do some different things for us, but there will be no excuses made for who you lost or what happened. Those guys outperformed us, outplayed us, and they beat us.”
On whether he knows what happened down the final stretch of the season: “No. It has to be something that we’ll go back, and we’ll review. Obviously, we’ve talked about the reasons we made switches at different spaces before and different areas. We’ve talked about different things that we’ve done throughout the course of the season, but right now you won’t pinpoint the whole last eight on what happened. We’ll talk about those things as we move forward and as we go into the offseason and find out what’s necessary to get ready to come out here and compete at the highest level.”
On how QB Michael Penix Jr. handled becoming a starter at a pivotal point in the season: “Obviously as an organization, that was our big-time plan, to have him come in and hold the clipboard like you’re talking about and have him learn from the veteran like Kirk [Cousins]. Obviously, that process got sped up a little bit for him. But him having the ability to do the things he’s done obviously has shown. Realistically, the light at the end of the tunnel for us, despite how bad and poor we played on defense or anywhere, is the quarterback. The organization has a quarterback that is certainly bright, that is certainly our future, that certainly can go out and make any single play and play in any single game that you can play in. Those are the things we’ll talk about I’m sure tomorrow and moving forward. We’ll figure out ways to fix what we need to fix. We’ll figure out ways to fix the things we got to get done. But Michael Penix is certainly outstanding. He’s certainly one of the guys that’s going to play in this league and absolutely dominate for as long as we allow him.”
On how exciting it was to see the QB Michael Penix Jr. and WR Drake London connection: “I don’t even know what the yards were and the stats, but I just know it was absolutely outstanding watching those guys wheel and deal today: Michael Penix to Drake London. Watching Bijan [Robinson] have the ability to get the ball in his hands in certain situations. Even some of the missed throws that we’re making are just exciting. If you’re a fan and you look out there at Michael Penix, you’ve got to be excited. Obviously, we did not intend to have a shootout today, and he did not intend to have a shootout today. We wanted to be able to run and control the football, do the things we did in the first half, be able to control that, not allow those guys to score. But he went out to game change and did what he had to do, and he gave us a chance to go out there and compete and have a chance to win. When you’ve got a young quarterback like that, you’re cooking with gas. That’s what fires me up. Despite how angry I am or pissed off right now, when you look at No. 9, he gives us the best chance to win football games moving forward.”
On defensive struggles in the red zone: “The play to [Miles] Sanders was a pretty good play out of the backfield. Pretty sneaky, snuck out through the big gap, got him wide open down in the red zone. Fringe play, a nice little shot there. Wide open play. Got to be able to cover that better, got to be able to see that. Great job scheming up by those guys. The other one was a blitz where they caught us on a wide-open play. Coming across the middle of the field, we’ve got to be able to attach to your guy. We couldn’t attach to that guy fast enough. Then watching Bryce [Young] run into the end zone after he made a couple people miss, that was magic by him and a nice job by him. We just were not good enough across the board on defense. You can go through just about any play you want to on defense today and really criticize and critique the things we need criticized and critiqued. We’ve got to be straight up honest with ourselves, that was not good enough.”
On whether his change in his demeanor is about today’s result or the last eight games: “That’s more of a setback of today. Like I don’t particularly like or expect setbacks when you’re talking about how you’ve gotten better. We’ve talked about having a growth mindset just throughout the season, and I felt that throughout the season no matter what was happening, no matter what the courses were, that you had this growth mindset that we had to go out there and get better and better at everything you wanted to get better at. I felt like today, we couldn’t turn that corner on defense. That’s really what the negative intent of coming off of talking to you guys is really coming from that growth mindset that we can have that we can bounce back and be able to make things happen when we need to. We’ve got to be able to do those things, and today I just didn’t feel it.”
On whether he is worried about the growth mindset after how positive he was coming into the season and how it ended: “I don’t worry about the growth mindset because we’ve got plenty of time to go back and get it right. We’ve got plenty of time to go back and correct the correctables and things we have to do. I feel really good about the people that are in charge of those things. I feel really good about the people that’s going to allow us to go out there and have success. I feel good about the addition that we’ll be able to make within the offseason to be able to help us. I feel good about the things we can do moving forward. It’s just that today is a really disappointing day for us to have to end it with that taste in your mouth.”
On optimism offensively and defensively moving forward and how long the review of the season will take: “You always have a 24-hour period that you go through just when you talk about any emotional loss. That’s always the case. You get a chance to go in and go on your Mondays and do what you need to do to correct things and be able to talk about it with the people that you need to talk about it with. When you get a chance and all of this settles, you get a chance to really reflect on what happened today. Then obviously what you talked about, the defensive side that you’re really excited about was the Kaden Elliss factor that we had going, how well A.J. Terrell played, and having Jessie Bates. Having those pieces on your defense being the key cogs that didn’t have the plays you wanted them to have today, you’re really fired about that. Michael Penix obviously on offense and Drake London and Bijan Robinson, your big three over there. Obviously with [Darnell] Mooney coming back and some of those type of different things. You’re really fired up about the O-line. Then on defense, having those three cogs in those places, you’re really fired up about where you can go and what you can do. I don’t know if you can have a better season than A.J. Terrell had. I don’t know if you can play as well as Jessie Bates has been able to play for us this year. Some of the things that Kaden Elliss was able to do down the stretch, looking forward to him doing that for a long time for us really fires you up. Right now, I am down on the day. I’m down on what happened today, how the results happened today. We wanted those guys to play better, and we did not live up to that. Obviously, you go through the whole process of what you’re going to do, how you’re going to move forward with everybody across the organization and how you do those things. That stuff will come up over the next couple of weeks in how we move forward.”
On the strength of QB Michael Penix Jr.’s arm and how to balance utilizing it without overdoing it: “He’s outstanding. We’ve talked about that. The minute he became a starter in the National Football League, he became a top five passer in this league just when it comes to the look of the throw and how pretty it is. We talked about what he’s going to develop over the offseason is going through his layer process and being able to layer some of those throws and get those in there when it comes to completion-getting and doing the things he can. Obviously, he’s a cannon down the field. When he makes those throws, the wild throws. They’re really exciting throws, but we can harness some of those things and find a way to get those things where we can get more completions for him. He’s just a young man that’s just got the growth mindset that really excites you about where you’re going and some of the stuff we talked about. As disappointed as we are on defense, we’re extremely excited about what he brings to the table and where he’s going to grow and how this offseason is going to be for him.”
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