Head Coach Mike Smith
Opening Statement:
Games in this league don’t get easier week to week. They get tougher. I thought that we played a very good Carolina football team. That was a divisional game. I thought it was hard fought. I thought that both teams played a very physical football game. They were the better team today. My hat’s off to their football team and their coaching staff.
The things that went on out there as far as the Falcons are concerned, they are all things we can fix. They are fixable. We will address those things on Monday when we watch the tape, and we will get back on the field on Wednesday. I say this: it’s a process that this football team is going through. We finished the first quarter and we’re 2 – 2. We’ve got to feel good about that.
On Carolina’s defense against the running game:
I thought they did a very nice job in their run defense. Up front, they’ve got some big, strong guys up front. They were in certain safety, so they were committing the eighth guy into the box to stop the run. There were some opportunities, I thought, where we were close to maybe busting one. But it just didn’t work out. I thought they did a nice job in their run defense, especially with their front four.
On dropped passes:
I don’t think we were as sharp as we had been catching the football. It’s something that is very fixable. We’ll get back out there on Wednesday and work on it.
On taking advantage of the chances given:
When you get an opportunity to get a re-play or a re-do, you’ve got to take advantage of it. At the same time when you get the ball down in the Red Zone – I thought the Red Zone efficiency is something that, if we score touchdowns instead of kicking field goals, it’s a whole different game. That Red Zone efficiency when you get down there as a football team, your goal is to score touchdowns.
On the theme of it being a process for the Falcons this year:
We’ve talked as a coaching staff and to our players. We’re trying to get incrementally better every day. We know that there are going to be days when we are going to have some setbacks in terms of what we’re trying to get done. We don’t talk about wins and losses. We do talk about the process. If our guys continue to work hard, we are going to like the outcome at the end of the season. That’s the thing that we’re trying to get done and established here. That we are going to work through this process of how you create winning habits.
On third downs:
We were not very good. I think we were 2-13 on Third Downs. Any time you are not converting on Third Down, you are going to put your defense back out there on the field, and your offense is going back over to the sidelines. I think it’s very important that we get better in our Third Down Efficiency.
On Jake Delhomme’s performance:
Those are two fine wide receivers that we faced today in Musing Muhammad and Steve Smith. They had a great game. I thought that Jake threw the ball extremely well. He had time to throw the ball down the field. And they were able to hit the ball 25 yards or further down the field. Those are all things we have got to address.
On quarterback pressure:
We did not have any sacks this week. That’s something we have to make sure to do. Quarterbacks in this league, if they get comfortable back there, they are going to make their throws.
On Matt Ryan’s performance:
I think it was a positive step for Matt. For Matt right now, and where we are right now as a football team, everything you got to take a positive out of every game in everything that we do. I think it’s very important to be positive. It’s a very big learning curve for a quarterback in this league.
On quick passes:
It’s a function of the both the offense and the defense. They had some guys up there who can rush the passer, so obviously you want to try to keep them off rhythm and not let them get into the rhythm of rushing the passer, and knowing where he’s going to be. So you want to change that launch point.
On success with the “no huddle:"
Yeah, I thought that Matt operated extremely well in the “no huddle”. We went into it in our second drive and moved the ball down the field. It’s something that we talked about and had scripted out that we wanted to do and show early. I thought that we operated extremely well in that situation. It was a scripted situation.
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-PANTHERS GAME:
- GAME RECAP: Falcons "drop" division game in Charlotte
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Bank of America Stadium press box
- POSTGAME QUOTES: Smith | Falcons | Panthers
- GAME BLOG: Follow live updates from the press box
- GAME CENTER: News, stats and play-by-play from NFL.com
- FOLLOW THE BIRDS: On Twitter | Flickr
- INACTIVES: Gameday inactives and starters
- BOARDS: Talk about the team with other fans on FalconsLIFE
- J. MIKE'S MISSIVES: News and commentary from the Managing Editor
- VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Matt Ryan
- HIGHLIGHTS: Game highlights from NFL Network
