HOUSTON – When asked how to describe the mood of the team in the Falcons' locker room following the 53-32 loss to the Houston Texans (3-2), Matt Ryan said "disappointed."
Free safety Ricardo Allen didn't mince his words, either:
"Not good," Allen said. "It just wasn't good at all."
REALTED CONTENT
So, what is at the root of the three consecutive losses?
"Accountability," Allen said.
Ryan and Allen both said these games come down to doing your job and the Falcons collectively have not done that.
Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller IV were too much for the Falcons' defense to handle at NRG Stadium. Fuller caught 14 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns with Watson throwing 426 yards.
The Falcons gave up 592 yards of total offense on Sunday.
When asked if the duo surprised the Falcons' defense with certain looks, Allen said no, the Falcons were prepared for the plays the Texans ran.
It came down to not executing.
"It's the same thing our coaches gave us in practice," Allen said. "That's the sad thing about it all."
Ryan and the Falcons' offense put up 32 points, the most they've scored all season, but it wasn't enough to hold the Texans off.
The Falcons went scoreless in the third quarter and it came back to haunt them.
Houston took advantage of the opportunity to take the lead after trailing 17-16 at the half when they came out and scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter.
"We just weren't good enough in the third quarter and offensively we have to be consistent for four quarters and we didn't do a good enough job of that in third," Ryan said.
Falcons players and head coach Dan Quinn have repeatedly said they've had good weeks of preparation leading up to Sunday, but there seems to be a disconnect come gameday.
Allen said they can get back on track if they focus on one thing:
"Do your job, if you do that, it wouldn't look like that," Allen said.
The Falcons will certainly look to do that as they travel to Arizona for the week prior to their Week 6 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals (1-3-1).
"You can't sit around feeling bad for yourself, you have to find a way to be better," Ryan said.
