Head coach Mike Smith
Opening Statement
"I felt like our guys fought as a football team tonight, but in the end we didn't make enough plays to get the outcome that we wanted. You get what you earn in the NFL, and we've earned a 1-3 record the first quarter of the season. That is what we are; we are a 1-3 football team. We've had opportunities, and we haven't made the most of those opportunities. We, as a coaching staff, and as a team, have to learn from those mistakes we have made in the first four games and move on and get them corrected. It's a long season, it's just the end of the first quarter, and we will learn from the mistakes we have made and move on."
On the mistakes being new, or mistakes from all of the previous games:
"Well, our red zone efficiency was not what we needed it to be, again, in this ballgame. We're just not executing like we need to in the red zone. We are moving the ball well between the 20s, but we're not ending with touchdowns. We've got to score touchdowns in this League. It's an offensive League and you've got to score touchdowns."
On going for the touchdown on fourth and two:
"The concept was, we felt like we had a good play. We had an idea of what they were going to be in, and we didn't execute. We had an opportunity, we just didn't execute."
On Matt Ryan's game today being off:
"When you're a football team there are a lot of factors in a play. There are 11 guys that have to do their job. There are a number of plays where we did not execute it, and our players did not do the things they needed to do on those specific plays. Until I watch the tape, I'm not going to point to any one player, or any one side of the ball in terms of the outcome of the game. We've got to be better in the red zone that is obvious."
On the execution of the plays being a mental issue:
"No, I don't believe it is a mental thing. I wish I could give you a concrete answer. I can't at this point in time. It's poor execution. We've got to look at everything we do down there, not only from the execution point but schematically as well. As I said last week, I'm responsible for the way the team plays. We are 1-3, we've earned it."
On kicking it deep at 2:55 with two timeouts:
"There was, but we felt the way they lined up the first time, the way we have our onside kick setup, that we have the numbers as an advantage, in any situation if they line up a certain way, and we felt very confident, we just didn't complete it. It ended up working out for us, we got the ball back. Those are all considerations, but the way they lined up on the first onside kick, gave us a little insight on what we were going to do on the second."
On the instant replay being broken:
"They came over and said that the system was down and they would let me know when it was back up. Obviously, it came back up because later in the game there was a challenge on the spot."
On the Falcons defense:
"We've got to make sure when we are playing zone defense that we play with good eyes and good vision. We had a really tough drive there on the third and 21, the conversion on third and 21, added to that with the penalty, and then we had an explosive run which was a misfit, and I think that really was the worst sequence with our defense."
On being disappointed with how some of the last plays turned out:
"Well, I thought Tony Gonzalez had a career day, 12 catches for almost 150 yards. Tony was battling his tail off. They were trying to stop him, putting a lot of resources, sometimes two players on him, and he was still able to get open."
On the last play, 4th down pass to Roddy White:
"Until I watch the tape guys, I'm not going to comment on one specific play. We didn't execute it there on fourth down. We had our opportunities on first, second and third down to make plays as well. "
