Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said after the 17-14 loss Sunday to the Chiefs:
ON MATT HENNESSY AND MATT GONO: “They have some good interior tackles for the Kansas City Chiefs. Not easy guys to go against and they held up. I think both of them will have some things they’d like to improve on, but that’s everybody. For the most part, on balance, I thought they did a nice job the entire day.”
ON THE OFFENSE: “We did a pretty nice job the entire day. We did a few things that just got us off schedule whether if it be penalties or missed assignments that kind of put us behind the chains. You know, going against a good football team like that, they are going to be hard to overcome.
ON HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS: “I thought we did better job of staying in front of the chains executing on first and second downs in the second half.”
ON IF THEY SHOULD HAVE CALLED TIMEOUT ON LAST DRIVE: “Not my call. I thought it was good to keep them off balance. We had plenty of time from where we were at on the field. We had plenty of time. We got three sets of downs in. We had a really good chance for a touchdown on a double move to Calvin, but we just didn’t hold up. I thought we did fine there. We gave ourselves a chance.”
ON DRAFT POSITON: “Our job is to go out there and compete and win. That’s what we get paid to do. It’s disappointing. You put in all of the hard work all week and you give yourself a chance, fall a little short. It’s tough.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
ON WHAT THEY CAN LEARN FROM THE LOSS: I think it’s a great opportunity to learn what we are capable of, but also how fine the line is in this league between being 14-1 and 4-11. It’s not that much. We’ve got to grow up and figure out how not to make mistakes in critical situations, make the plays when we have our chances. If we can do that, I think we can be a pretty good football team moving forward.
ON FINISHING OUT GAMES: You never know when it’s going to be the play. It’s not necessarily the last kick o fthe game, third down on the last series of the game, there’s a handful of things that come up whether if we miss an assignment or a play that can affect the game just as significantly. We’ve got to learn from those lessons. We’ve got to be better as a whole moving forward.
ON WHAT HE TOLD KOO AFTER THE GAME: “Well, I told him afterward, the next time that he’s in that situation that he’s going to nail it. …He’s a great year for us. He’s been extremely consistent. His confidence should continue to be at an all-time high. It’s part of the game and you’ve got to move forward.”
ON THE DEFENSE’S PLAY AGAINSNT MAHOMES: “I thought the defense played well. I looked like they kept them out of rhythm for most of the day. Gave us a chance at the end of the game.”
ON THE RUSHING ATTACK: “I thought we ran the ball effectively for sure. That helped us. That helped us eat up some of the clock, change field position at certain times, certainly slow down pass-rush. I thought, for the most part, our run game was effective.”
ON FOURTH QUARTER COMEBACKS: “It’s just making a play here or there. It’s not really much more than that. At different times, it’s been different guys. We’ve got to find a way to make the plays. Again, it goes back to how fine the line is between wins and losses and between great teams and teams who are out of the playoffs. The great teams find ways to get the job done and they make the plays when they are there.”
ON PLAYING THEM TOUGH AS DOUBLE-DIGIT UNDERDOGS: “I think that is one constant that has been here this entire year. It’s a group that is going to fight. It’s a group that is going to play hard and compete every week. From that standpoint I think everybody can be pleased with the type of guys that we have in our locker room.”
Falcons’ 2021 draft position
(Before Week 16 action)
1. Jacksonville
2. New York Jets
3. Cincinnati
4. Carolina
5. Falcons
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