Matt Ryan
On today's performance:
"OK, to start off good win for our team. It took all 60 minutes this week and we knew that coming into it. It always does when playing Carolina. But I felt all three phases were resilient and we mad the plays when needed to and thats what you have to do week to week in this league. So with that being said I'll open up for questions." On the long pass to Roddy White:
"Obviously, it was just a two-man route sending out two big guy's down there and we have the option to throw it to either one. The coverage that they had kind of matched it up one on one on the safety and I just threw it down there, threw it high and far and to the spot that we talk about, we practice that, that the spot we talk about and Roddy went up and made a great catch, he just made a great play. When you have to make a play to change the outcome, I thought he did a great job in all honesty our offensive line did a great job we put guy's in there had the protection specifically for that situation and they blocked it up put us in a chance to shoot it down field as far as we could." On the having the time to make the play:
"In order to do that, you have to have great guys. Our guys did a great job of pass protecting and giving us the time that we needed to throw it down there."
Head Coach Mike Smith
On team's performance
"Was that exciting enough for you? Our goal today was to finish the first quarter of the season at 4-0 and we got that done. And as you guys know winning in this league is tough but winning in this division is even tougher and it was no exception today. Every time guys that it looked bleak and it didn't look like we had the chance in the last five minutes we were able to overcome it and finish it. We want to start fast and we want to finish everything that we do and we were able to do that. Obviously, we got a lot of things as a football team to fix we'll celebrate tonight and we will start our preparation for the Washington Redskins tomorrow." On the resiliency of the offense toward the end
"It was a very good sign for our group. Just shows that we are never out of it and I like to say there was never a doubt, but you have to keep a positive attitude. The guys kept fighting and as long as there's time on the clock, we got to have the mindset and we do as a football team that we can do it. If it's 60, we need 60 yards, we need 99 yards, we need 40 yards — we feel like we have that mentality that we can do whatever it takes." On his thoughts whether they would go for it on 4th down or punt
"I was hoping they would punt it to us. And that's the right thing to do in that situation on a fourth down and 1 they did what most any coaches do, try and pull you offsides take the 5 yards, they took advantage of the 5 yards, were able to kick the ball inside the 5-yard line so it was a very good strategic move. We were able to overpower, overcome that situation there at the end of the ball game. Can't say enough about the quarterback, the receiver and the protection, held up when it had to you guy's know that was a long play down the field and you have to have protection holdup. On Roddy White's performance at the end concentrating on making the big plays
"Absolutely, those two catches were as about as good as any catches you will see, the ability to adjust on the football when the ball is in the air, that's why he's been a Pro Bowl receiver for the last four years." On his reaction after the field goal
"No, I wasn't upset, at least I hope i wasn't upset. It's a very emotional thing at the end of the ball game. You try and keep your composer we got to make sure we keep the right guys out there and we do the right sequence of things. So we were able to get the job done today and it is a great teaching tool to be 4-0, to be able to go in and watch the film tomorrow to make those corrections with the players because it will be a very positive learning experience for everybody." On calling a timeout at the end of the game with no timeouts
"That's correct. Not going to play with 10 guys on the field and that's what you do at the end of the ball game. We only had ten guys on the field I'm going to call a timeout wether it's an 80-yarder or a 65-yarder final play you got to have eleven guys on the field. And we did not have eleven guys on the field we had 10 so that was the transition." On thought of challenging the next to last play with Julio Jones catch
"No, it wasn't challengeable, his foot was out. I thought we did a great job on the one with Steve Smith, first look on the sideline felt like it was but you want to always get confirmation from upstairs we have a coach that is responsible for that, he reinforced and was adamant about what we saw on the sideline and we were able to throw the flag prior to them running the play. So we were able to get that challenged and win it, it was big because, it was a fourth down situation." On Cam Newton's fumble
"Again, when there is a fumble you can not advance a fumble forward in the last part of the ball game. I believe it's in the last five minutes of the football game. So that was going to go. It was a mass of bodies in there I thought the officials did a great job of going through the process of getting the spot right, they have to look at that, that is something that is challengeable and it is something that you can look at and of course it was in the last two minutes of the game so it had to go to the booth and I thought the guy's did a nice job of getting the ball where it needed to be. On coming from behind to win
"It's great to know that your going to be able to handle the edge and flows of NFL football game. It was just a matter of time before we were going to have to play from behind. We weren't naive enough to think that we were going to play every game from ahead, but I thought it showed the mental of the guys in that room. They showed a lot of resiliency on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game." On offense having an up and down game
"We have some things to correct there. Obviously, my hat's off to the defensive front over there, they did a nice job putting pressure on the quarterback and the great thing is that it's a teaching moment when you have the opportunity to do it with a win and I think it was much more positive when your able to do that."
