FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Head coach Raheem Morris used the word "flat" multiple times this week to describe the Atlanta Falcons' performance against the Seattle Seahawks. Players may not have liked it, but they knew Morris was right. That was a key part of why they lost.
A different term came up Wednesday, though: reset.
Now, this, the team could rally behind.
"After a tough loss Sunday, it's always good to kind of hit the reset button," Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "New week, fresh week. Get back to work, begin again. And that's what we did."
Last Sunday's loss was perhaps a more difficult pill to swallow than usual because it came after three consecutive wins – against NFC South opponents at that. The Falcons were riding high. The Seahawks, whose victory snapped their own three-game losing streak, brought them back down to reality.
Reality, though, is where Atlanta's focus belongs.
"It's about sticking to your process, going about your business how you would have had you won the game," Falcons tackle Grady Jarrett said. "Obviously, you acknowledge some of the things you fell short in. But you don't reinvent the wheel. You don't hit the panic button."
It's way too early to hit the panic button, anyway.
The Falcons are 4-3 with plenty of season left. They're atop the division with a 3-0 record, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are right on their tail. The Buccaneers are also 4-3 overall but lose the tiebreaker to the Falcons because of their 1-1 divisional record.
That's just at the current moment. Again, there's plenty of season left. Both have 10 games remaining on the schedule, including a rematch on Sunday.
"In pro football, it doesn't get easier," Cousins said. "If you get hit in the mouth, you get back up and you realize you got a great opponent now up ahead."
The Falcons and Buccaneers first met in Week 5, with Atlanta earning an overtime victory at home. This time, they meet in Tampa Bay.
If the Falcons win again, the Buccaneers would have to win two more games than the Falcons over the remainder of the season to take the division because of Atlanta's lead in a tiebreak scenario. It only gets complicated if there ends up being a three-way tie with the New Orleans Saints, who are currently 2-5 overall and 1-2 against divisional opponents. But that's neither here nor there right now. What matters is Sunday.
Because the Seahawks loss, in the grand scheme of things, didn't really change the Falcons' primary goal or ability to reach the playoffs.
"Just because you had one game doesn't mean you have a bad season ahead of you," Falcons safety Jessie Bates III. "We still have everything that we want ahead of us. It's up to us to go and take it – take the south. Run the south, like we've been preaching."
