Falcons head coach Mike Smith on the Week 5 contest: "We didn't do a very good job sustaining the momentum that we had through the first half of the ball game and then through the end of the third quarter. We couldn't get anything going offensively there in the second half, nor could we get the stops that we needed. I felt like we played okay in spurts in the first half of the ball game. We are extremely disappointed in the way that the game finished. We've got to be much better; we've got to coach better and we've got to play better."
Smith on having to settle for field goals instead of TDs: "Yes, those are red zone situations that we would like to have put the ball in the end zone and we know against a good offense and a good quarterback like Eli Manning that when you kick field goals, when you get down there, you really put yourself behind. We had been good in the red zone; our red zone efficiency wasn't as good. I thought we did a good job getting down there; we didn't execute, when we got into the red zone."
Smith on the decision to go for it on fourth down: "There was belief right at four minutes and forty-five seconds; we had talked all through the week that [if it] came up in the ball game that we would go for it. We felt like we had a good play; we just didn't execute it. To me, it was a very makeable fourth down."
Falcons QB Matt Ryan on the play of his OL: "I thought our guys battled. I thought in the first half we did a really nice job mixing the run and the pass and we just got out of rhythm, across the board, in the second half and really, other than the explosive play to Antone [Smith], we weren't able to get much going."
Falcons WR Roddy White describing the 3rd-and-2 play at the end of the first half: "The backer kind of bugged out and the guy was kind of inside, so it is a tough throw to hit and we couldn't get it in there, couldn't squeeze it in there. That was a tough one; it is a hard play to convert and it is nothing you can really do. It is a tough call for that coverage."
White on having to settle for FGs instead of TDs: "I knew we needed them down there. I was kind of ticked off, every time we were kicking field goals, because at the end of the day, when you get that opportunity and you're inside the five, you've got to go in there and just punch them in. We felt like we were right there, kicking field goals on the two-yard line and three-yard line, and that is not good in this league."
Falcons DE Osi Umenyiora describing his sack against Giants QB Eli Manning: "I was just trying to help the team win, man. Anything I can do to help this team win, I'm going to do, because they deserve it. It's a good team, good coaches, good owner – they deserve better than we're doing right now."
Umenyiora assessing the team's year, thus far: "We're 2-3, man, we're 2-3. We need to find a way to put some wins together. We've got a very good football team; we're just inconsistent right now."
Falcons CB Robert Alford on changes in the second half: "We got in at half, coach changed some stuff up for us that should have worked; we just have to do better in the second half, we have to finish."
Alford on losing the 10-point lead in the second half: "It's very disappointing. We just have to finish. You just have to go out there and you just have to execute...It's very troubling, but we're going to get it together; we're going to bounce back."
