Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was impressed with the play of Roddy White and Harvey Dahl to give Atlanta a chance to move to 3-1 with a win over the 49ers
Opening statement…
"It was nice to come out on top. We made the plays when we needed to. It was a good football team playing very hard out there so we are happy to walk away with a win."
On Roddy White's effort…
"It was an unbelievable effort on Roddy's part. It's obviously frustrating when you throw an interception in those situations, but I was hustling back trying to keep the guy in play. Roddy came out of nowhere and really made the play of the game. Harvey Dahl fell on it, which is an incredible effort by him being 60 yards behind the play as an offensive lineman. It kind of speaks to the character of our football team. Regardless of the situation, we are going to go out there and play hard. It really was a breath of new life when we got the football back and we went right down the field."
**
On the team mindset after the fumble recovery…**
"I think everybody was on the same page. We had just gone down the football field pretty effectively and made a mistake which was frustrating. We had that same opportunity right back and we felt if we could tighten some things up then we could do it again. It's the mindset you have to have. It's special when all 11 guys have that."
**
On the throw to Roddy White down the sideline…**
"I think the biggest thing was that we had gotten that coverage quite a few times throughout the day so we knew the kind of route that we wanted to have. Roddy made a great play. It was an unbelievable catch. The ball had pace on it, it was high, and he went up and just made a play when we needed to. It was impressive and that is just the kind of thing that we have come to expect with Roddy."
On playing against another 3-4 defense…
"We just need to continue to watch the tape and improve where we need to. It's too early to diagnose what we need to do better immediately following the game. The biggest thing is to get back and look at film and see areas where we feel like we can improve then working hard during the week to improve on that. I think Cleveland next week is another 3-4 scheme. It's kind of the trend in the NFL right now. For the most part I think we have done well against it."
**
On thoughts while chasing down Nate Clements…**
"I was just trying to run him down the sideline. I think all of us had played this game so long that you never know what is going to happen. At that point it was jus trying to keep him out of the endzone. I was hustling back trying to force him either to cut back or do whatever, so it never creeps in to your mind at that point. When you have the ball back your mindset has to be to go right back down the field. We had plenty of time and plenty of timeouts, and I felt like we could do it. "
**
On thoughts of deep passes to Brian Finneran and Harry Douglas…**
"In those kind of situations, it is about making the first couple of plays and getting the ball moving. You would like to make those plays before third down but sometimes that's when you have to do it. Those guys ran great routes and were disciplined in what they did. Sixty minutes into the game they were still at the right spots so credit to those guys. We had good protection up front against a stout defensive line. Our guys continued to battle and made the plays when they were supposed to."
**
On trouble in the red zone…**
"They were a pretty active team from film study. I thought they did a good job. They were effective with what they did. They have really talented guys on that defense. They were able to get some pressure and force us to do some things that we didn't want to do. Credit to them, because they did a really great job."
**
On the upcoming game against Cleveland…**
"I think every team, every week, is dangerous. In this league there are so many good football players. There are no weeks off and you have to prepare for everybody as hard as you possibly can week in and week out. We need to get back to work this week. We need to have a really good week at practice and get prepared to go on the road, and come back with a win."
