LAS VEGAS – Here’s what the Falcons had to say after the 15-9 win over the Raiders on Monday:
Bijan Robinson, running back
On if he talked to Desmond Ridder: “Yes, pre-game and post-game. It was pretty cool.”
On the mindset going down the stretch: “Just taking it one game at a time. Obviously, we don’t want to look ahead to anything ... in the NFL you can lose any game. ... We can’t lose another game to do what we want to do. The Giants are our number one opponent right now and our number one focus. That needs to be the game plan for this week.”
On where the offense is now: “It was just scenarios and situations. There have been turnovers and penalties. Obviously, that’s stuff that we have to eliminate. But we can’t keep setting ourselves back in certain situations. For us, if we want to be the offense that we want to be, we have to be as discipline as possible. We have to take those little things out. I feel like when we do that, we are really dominate as an offense. I think it’s just those little nuanced things. Especially these past four weeks of not playing up to our standard.”
On leaning on the rushing attack: “It felt great. We have to do, what we have to do to get a win. … We want to put the ball in the end zone more. But when we are clicking in the run game, those seven guys up front are making ways and holes for us to run through. ... If we have to run the ball 30 times, then that’s what we had to do to win this. Go out there and dominate.”
On how close are you to breaking some longer run: “I feel like I was one guy a way. One or two guys away. We’re going to get it right in practice. A lot of that is on me to break tackles. Just keep breaking tackles. Yeah man, we are close. When we start breaking those runs and when start getting those 50 and 60 yard runs, the sky is the limit. We are going to try and go get them in the next game.”
Drake London, wide receiver
On the offense: “Just get back in the lab and keep working, coming up with new stuff. … We need to score points. It’s as simple as that. I think we need to be more aggressive. But at the end of the day a win is a win and I can not complain about that.”
On stopping the losing streak: “It feels amazing, especially with his long (expletive) flight. So, yeah.”
On his 30-yard touchdown: “He was looking at Kirk and he sold it. Helped me out. He really ran the route for me. It was amazing to get back in the end zone.”
More on his touchdown: “It was amazing to get back in the end zone. It’s always good to get back in the box.”
Jessie Bates III, safety
On getting the win: It’s been almost a whole month for us to go without a win. Just to get that one, I’m sure the offense hopes that they played a little bit better. But a win is win at this point in time. We’ll look forward to continue to stack on that.”
On going against Desmond Ridder: “It was a little weird. Last year, he was my locker mate. This year I’m just happy that he had the opportunity to go out there and showcase that he can still play in this league. I joked around with him. I ask him about how him and his family was doing. How his little one was doing. It was good to see him for sure.”
On the Hail Mary pass at the end: “You see that play end in a touchdown at times throughout this whole year. You see guys scoring on those Hail Mary’s. Just talking to Kevin (King), Justin (Simmons) on who’s going to be the jumper, who’s the tipper and who was the back line guy.”
Nate Landman, linebacker
On playing more base defense: “If you look at the past games, we are pretty comfortable in our base calls when they are in 12,13 or heavy personnels. I think we shine a little bit in that. We are able to stop the run. Transition to play-action pretty well. That’s stuff that we work on in practice. I think as the week’s continue we get more confident in those calls and it’s starting to show on the field.”
On the defense playing solid for 3½ quarters: “We played really tight locked down defense for a couple of quarters there. Then we kind off took (our) foot off the gas. It was just unfortunate, but something that we can learn from. It’s always better to learn the position of win rather than a loss. Even if that didn’t happen, there were mistakes that happened in the first three quarters as well. Stuff we have to learn from. Stuff we have to get better from. Stuff that we can be excited about when we watch the film.”
On if there was a preparation advantage for the defense because they knew Desmond Ridder so well: “Yeah, but were still on the fence kind of to see if he was going to play or not. We kind of attack it both ways. We knew Des likes the quick-game. Likes to get the ball out of his hands quickly. Obviously, he’s mobile. We practice the zone read a little bit and he had a couple of keepers, especially on the fourth down. He made some plays with his legs. That’s something that we harped on all week, is that he could move in the pocket. I think he did a good job today.”
On if he talked to Ridder after the game: “I did. We came in together, in the same (draft) class. It’s always good to see him. He said his family is doing well. I was happy to see Des. Happy for him to have landed here and to get the start.”
On stopping the four-game losing streak: “It was huge. It was a huge stepping stone. It’s always got to vibe after a W. You can sense that mood in the building. It’s easier to go to work the next day. We can’t get comfortable. That’s what has hurt us in the past. We get a couple of wins and then we get comfortable. We have to keep pressing the gas and build off of this as a stepping stone.”
On the playoff race: “It’s the fourth quarter of the season. We put ourselves in a tough spot. One we have to climb out of. (The win over the Raiders) was the first step and we look forward to the next step on Monday.”
Zach Harrison, defensive tackle
On getting the safety: “Jimmy put us in the right call and we went and executed. That’s really all there is too it. But first and foremost, you have to give thanks to God. Just for blessing us with the opportunity to go out there and do the thing that we love. Jimmy just put us in the right call and we executed.”
On the nuance of the call: “It was just execution ... from film study, we had a good tip on what they were going to do. The (defensive) line. We just teed off and we made a play.”
On if it was slant or a bull rush: “We just had to go.”
Kevin King, cornerback
On his fumble recovery: “Getting a turnover for the team, that’s big. That’s something that we’ve been harping on. I saw the ball was on the ground and I just wanted to get on it.”
DeAngelo Malone, outside linebacker
On getting two sacks: “It was an unbelievable blessing. I felt like guys came out here with high motors. Guys were playing relentless. Guys just wanted to finish.”
On getting more sacks: “We know if we got one they’d come in bunches. We are playing with in each other. Guys have faith in each other. Guys have been going hard and getting to the quarterback.”
KhaDarel Hodge, wide receiver
On the blocked punts: “(Special teams coordinator Marquice Williams) is always scheming up stuff. He dialed it up and it worked.”
On stopping the four-game losing steak: “A win is a win. Some are ugly. Some are great. But at the end of the day, a win is a win.”
Chris Lindstrom, right guard
On stopping the four-game skid: “It was a playoff game for us. Coach made that well aware to us. We knew it. Anytime you a win on the road in this league, that’s huge.”
On the success of the run game: “It all stars with (center) Drew (Dalman) and (quarterback) Kirk (Cousins) getting us lined up. Getting us presented. There were a lot of similarities to last week in terms of the fronts they presented us. A lot of pressure. A lot of movement. It all starts with Drew getting us right and he did a phenomenal job.
On getting ready for the Giants: “It’s the NFL, you have respect for everybody. They are a really good team. They have a really good defensive line unit. I know that they don’t have Dexter (Lawrence) any more, but that doesn’t change. They are a very good unit.”
Matthew Bergeron, left guard
On leaning on the rushing attack: “It felt good. Especially seeing Bijan reach 1,000 yards that’s a special feeling. He deserves it all. He works hard and all of that. We have some things to clean up. We can’t be satisfied with what we did out there. We definitely left some stuff out there.”
On stopping the four-game losing streak: “It definitely ... having the winning feeling back is definitely good, but there is some stuff out there that we could have done better. We can’t be satisfied with that. We are going to play some really good teams down the stretch, so we have to better.”
Ruke Orhorhoro, defensive tackle
On returning to action: “It was really good after just sitting out for some time (with an ankle injury). Got some time to learn. I got my body back. It was really good. It was good to be back out there with the boys.”
On the defense have 10 tackles for losses: “We were definitely out there getting after it. Just getting vertical. Trying to make plays in the backfield to trying to get a better pass-rush scenario.”
On getting 4 sacks and 6 quarterback hits: “My boy D-Lo (DeAngelo Malone) got him a two piece (two sacks). That’s from stopping the run on first and second down and getting us in them third and longs.”
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