Quinn Addressed the Controversial No-Call
After taking time to review Atlanta's final offensive snap on Sunday, head coach Dan Quinn shared his thoughts on whether or not Seattle CB Richard Sherman should have been called for pass interference on Julio Jones.
"The league will certainly look at it and grade all the officials. I was certainly ticked off as a competitor," Quinn said. "But I'll let them comment on the play. But as a competitor, you probably saw that on the sideline from me.
"I thought it would have gone the other way. The message I gave to the team — and I wholeheartedly believe it — (is) it does not come down to one play. We had opportunities in that ballgame to make game-winning plays, game-statement plays earlier, and we didn't do that. So it just so happens that one all got magnified on."
Penalties, Turnover Margin Hurt
When discussing the reasons Atlanta ultimately lost, Quinn cited penalties and the turnover margin as two key factors. Altogether, the Falcons committed eight infractions for 66 yards; the Seahawks, on the other hand, only received three flags for 30 yards. Regarding the turnover margin, Atlanta lost the ball twice — once by fumble, once through an interception — and were unable to force any of their own. This was particularly frustrating for Quinn given the fact that Atlanta recovered none of the three fumbles it caused.
"We're certainly going to shine a light on things that need improving," Quinn said. "For us, penalties were certainly a factor yesterday, and the turnover margin being minus-2 — zero takeaways defensively, or even on (special) teams, then being minus-2, we know how difficult that can be."
Resiliency Shone Through
While the Falcons weren't able to earn their fifth-straight win, their ability to fight back from a 17-3 deficit made Quinn proud of his club's resiliency. He stated that all three phases (offense, defense and special teams) "want to go and attack," and that trait has come to life in recent weeks.
"At the half, we had to reset. And we knew we had taken some shots, (so we said,) 'Now we have to come back out and punch harder.' That's what we did," Quinn said. "The third quarter went exactly as planned. There (weren't) wholesale changes in terms of the game plan. What we did, we did better. We executed better."
