The Aftermath: What the players were saying . . .
An official separates Falcons cornerback Christopher Owens (21) and Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. AP
PHILADELPHIA – Free safety Thomas DeCoud is a stand up guy.
He took the blame for the 83-yard touchdown. He was suppose to get over the top of Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin, but he heard his teammates yelling “reverse” and his instincts took over.
He took a peak and Maclin took off. (You love it when the players face the media music. Baseball players love to go hide in the lounge area when they don’t want to talk. DeCoud stood tall in the pocket. The Cal grad was articulate in explaining what happened to the Falcons defense. He gets a media gameball.)
Here’s what he and other players had to say to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the game:
THOMAS DECOUD, safety.
ON THE MACLIN PLAY: “I read my key on the play and that was to read No. 1 (receiver). I was going over the top of him. Then I heard the rest of the team yelling ‘reverse.’ I looked back and he took off. It was just one of those things where I have to be more disciplined in my half. I’ll take the blame on that one.
“I tried to whip my head and give pursuit as fast as I could. They made the play on that one and I’ll take the blame on it.
ON THE BIG PLAYS: “We came into this game knowing that they are a team that tries to trick you with misdirection. You think you’re going one way and then bring you back the other. Maybe we didn’t execute it as well as we could have in that regard.”
ON ROBINSON GOING DOWN: “C.O. (Christopher Owens) and Brian (Williams) came in and did a great job.”
JOHN ABRAHAM, defensive end
ON EAGLES QB KEVIN KOLB: “We didn’t do anything to hinder him from getting the ball out or anything to make him feel uneasy.”
ON THE SCORE RIGHT BEFORE HALFTIME: “We never felt we were out of the game. We didn’t come to play on either said of the ball. As a team, we didn’t play well at all. We usually pick each other up on both sides of the ball. But we didn’t play like we usually play.”
Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson (right) and Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson (left) are helped after a hit. AP
MIKE PETERSON, linebackers
ON THE MISDIRECTION ACTION OF THE EAGLES: “That’s usually what you get when you are playing fast; a lot of misdirection, a lot of reverses and screens. What we have to do is prepare ourselves for that each week. We have to self check ourselves.”
MATT RYAN, quarterback
ON TOUGH LOSS: “Every week is tough. In this league, every week is a battle. It doesn’t matter what your opponent’s record is, you know it’s going to be a tough physical game. Every week it’s going to come down to making a few plays here and there and today we didn’t make them.”
ON HIS FUMBLE: “It’s tough to say. Those calls are always difficult. It’s tough to say. As a player you always think you’re in the right.
WILLIAM MOORE, safety
Philadelphia's Jeremy Maclin (18) catches a touchdown pass in front of Atlanta defender Brent Grimes (20). AP
ON DUNTA ROBINSON: “We talked to him in the locker room. He was doing (well). You don’t want that to happen to anybody. Hopefully, he’ll feel better and we’ll get him back this week. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”
CHRISTOPHER OWENS, cornerback
ON GOING OUTSIDE AFTER ROBINSON WAS HURT: “You just have to be ready.
ON THE EAGLES PASSING FOR 326 YARDS: “We give all the credit to Kevin Kolb and his receiving corps. They played well. There are some things that we could have done better, but we give them all of the credit.”
TONY GONZALEZ, tight end
ON FALCONS BEING STOPPED ON THIRD DOWNS: “A lot of blitzing. Maybe we pick up the blitz or throw it hot and we weren’t able to make the play.
CURTIS LOFTON, middle linebacker
ON THE GAME: “They did a lot of mis-direction, reverses, passes and some off the wall stuff. We have to have good eyes and be ready for that stuff.”
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117 comments Add your comment
Tired
October 18th, 2010
9:21 am
Dude face it, you know in the back of your mind, Flaco and Sanchez ARE better
Tired
October 18th, 2010
9:24 am
Perfomance wise……Matt ryan=Chris Miller
Sick & Tired Of Being Sick & TIred
October 18th, 2010
9:25 am
The offensive line (AWFUL – were pushed back into the QB all day long – what pocket???) AND the offensive play calling (Mularkey – what adjustments???) need to be replaced and quickly!!! Everybody and their Momma knew that the Falcons were going to run Turner on 1st down the whole game….even when they were two touchdowns behind.
I’m not jumping off the bandwagon because I realize they weren’t going to win all of the remaining games on their schedule, but the Eagles really exposed major problems.
Blackbird
October 18th, 2010
9:40 am
The OC doesn’t make any call on the fly; he prepares 15 plays before the game and sticks with them. Someone please tell me why they don’t let Snelling take over the rushing plays when Tuner is off his game. Also can someone tell me why we jumped back into the first round to draft Sam baker?
Joe Tess Fish House
October 18th, 2010
9:48 am
Its time to bent matt Ryan and staart Redmond.
Tired
October 18th, 2010
9:50 am
Redmond ??? what do want to drag his old a$$ out for. He didn’t amount to crap the first tim… JPW !!!!
Joe Tess Fish House
October 18th, 2010
9:59 am
Redmond has expereince that JPW doesnt have. Its quiet evidence that Ryan is not ready 4 the nfl.
drew
October 18th, 2010
10:03 am
Yeah, they stunk it up across the board…every facet of the game: offense, defense, special teams. They were outcoached and outplayed. And we’re fortunate to be 4-2 with the way we’ve played overall.
But my biggest concern is Matt Ryan. He seems to have regressed since his rookie year. He’s staring down receivers, not making it through his progressions (yes, I know the O-line ain’t helping things), and making bad decisions on where to throw the ball. And if he gets ANY PRESSURE WHATSOEVER he gets a serious case of happy feet (Ice? Ice??). Rarely does Ryan make something out of nothing. When he’s pressured, it’s either an incompletion, a sack, a fumble, an INT, or if we’re lucky, he’ll manage to move out of the pocket long enough to throw it away. This is not the actions of an elite QB in the NFL. I’m not ready to give up on him yet, but we have to wonder if he is what we think he is.
Maybe the coaching and the offensive scheme have conspired to make Ryan look ineffective. I’d like to see them go no huddle (even hurry-up) just to see if Ryan is capable of squeezing something more out of this offense (and also to minimize Mularkey’s unimaginative contributions). Most of the elite teams have a QB that can manage the game, and make things happen. If the Falcons want to be an elite team, they need to give Ryan more control, and let him get into the flow of the game. Maybe he’ll take-off, or maybe he’ll flop, but either way at least we’ll know what we have and proceed accordingly.
I hope this game was an abberation, and not a sign of things to come.
Joe Tess Fish House
October 18th, 2010
10:06 am
I agree with drew about Ryan getting worst after his rokie year. So what he paid a lot of money tis time to bent him and give Redmond a shot.
drew
October 18th, 2010
10:07 am
Joe Tess…
loosing record????
bent Matt Ryan?????
quiet evidence???
drew
October 18th, 2010
10:10 am
Joe:
rokie???
bent him???
Come on dude, I know a blog is not a spelling-bee, but if that’s the best you can do, maybe you should stick to call-in sports radio…you know…no spelling required.
Tired
October 18th, 2010
10:11 am
Joe, REedmond has had his shot and failed, where have you been…….move on
Joe Tess Fish House
October 18th, 2010
10:26 am
Redmond no how 2 play Qb hes done it 4 years B 4 Ryan.
real fan
October 18th, 2010
10:32 am
Well we all saw it . They got punched in the mouth yesterday and didnt get up. Had this one coming. Cant let teams jump all over you early and expect a w every week. Can point alot of fingers but thats useless. Everybody makes mistakes. As a team overall they were flat. All the coaching in the world couldnt change that. Coaching is what you do between games . So lets wait and see who shows up this sunday. Go Falcons.
SeaAtl
October 18th, 2010
10:33 am
Matt Ryan needs to man up and own this loss. He is, on his very best day, an average NFL quarterback. He does not have the arm to make the tight throws, he is incapable and/or unwilling to stretch the field with long vertical routes, and ends up checking down all too often – and he doesn’t have a good enough touch to be able to make those soft check down throws. Objectively, you have to rank Ryan in the bottom 10 of starting QB’s.
truth
October 18th, 2010
10:37 am
Who wants the cheese with your whine? We are 4-2 people. Maybe we should just trade records with the Cowboys. Talk about underachieving.
Ron
October 18th, 2010
11:05 am
I hate to say it but I told you so, just like I said the first time we face a good quarterback the secondary would get torched and it did. Brees should have beat us but they have not been playing like they did last year. We have serious problems and we are a long way from being a great team there are glaring weaknesses in this team, the secondary is the biggest. The second is Mularkey,when Atlanta went three and out the first two times trying the same old plays, it was obvious to me and everyone else that Philly had studied the tapes, they knew what we were going to do, and we needed to change thins up.That in itself was predictable Philly has a good coaching staff, when we got twenty one points behind we were still trying to run the ball, at what point does the dumb ass quit trying to manage the game and realize we have to do something different.
When his game plan works things are good but god forbid you need to make an adjustment! I don’t have all the answers but we need a new offensive scheme, I know that this year there will be no change but Smith better get his head out of his ass and make some big changes in the off season. Let me say it plainly if you just want to contend we are built for that, but in no way are we a championship team. The top teams like Pittsburgh the Patriots the Colts even New Orleans are much better coached and have far better defensive and offensive schemes than we do.BUT IT IS ALL FIXABLE, BUT MIKE SMITH NEEDS TO MAKE SOME CHANGES! WORD
ATLien
October 18th, 2010
11:10 am
Everyone who is throwing this team under the bus needs to stop. In last weeks boards everyone was saying how awesome the falcons are, and after 1 loss they are the worst team in football. The flakiness needs to stop, We are a 4-2 team still have all the potential to be #1 in the NFC. We play an old school brand of “hit you in the mouth” football, which makes it hard to put up a lot of points quickly. True, we have problems on the offensive line, Matt Ryan has problems identifying blitzes and going through progressions, and we can’t catch up when we go down big early. We are still a young team which is learning week to week. The coaches and players will learn from this and make the adjustments.
For anyone who thinks that Matt Ryan doesn’t have the talent to be one of the best QB’s in the game is just crazy. Pull up video of him at BC and watch him pick apart college defenses. When he has time to set his feet and make throws he is solid. The O-Line needs to protect the pocket better, look at Kevin Kolb in the game, he completely destroyed our defense because of the ample time he had to throw. Its true Matt Ryan is not going to buy time with his feet like Mike Vick or McNabb, but we need to stop expecting that from him and let him do what he does best, sit and throw.
Mularkey needs to definitely draw up more plays to go vertical (down the field) on teams because everyone is looking for snelling and turner to try bust it up the middle. We need to open it up for our running game. Everyone needs to stop panicking, this loss was a loss, but we are not a losing team. We will go 11-5 or 12-4 this year and make it deep it in the playoffs.
Flexx
October 18th, 2010
11:14 am
It’s time to make full circle. Bring back OUR Prodigal Son. Bring back the man who energized OUR city and fan base. The one who had season ticket sold out for six years to come. Bring back Mike Vick! This is where he belongs to make good on what he, and this organization. Everybody loves a good comeback story filled with fall from grace, pain, forgiveness and redemption. Atlanta is where MV7 belongs. And it is here where he would lead a team to a Championship! Bring Back Vick! Bring Back Vick!
GameReviewer
October 18th, 2010
11:15 am
The best comment of the day by John Abraham, “they suprised us and ran plays we did not expect or practice for”. Well that won’t happen to ANY of Atlanta’s opponents. They know EXACTLY what to expect from Atlanta’s offense, week after week.
First down, run Turner, 2nd down, run Turner, 3rd and 8, pass to White or Gonzalas. It’s PURE LUCK they are 4-2.
truth
October 18th, 2010
11:17 am
Well our so called horrible defense beat that high powered offense of the aints Ron. You can say well they missed a field goal and we got lucky. Bull crap we took advantage of their mistake and they couldn’t stop our offense from driving down field and we took the win. We are 24-14 in three years under Smith but I would like to see a change at OC now or just let Matt run the no huddle all game because we seem to move the ball better when he does. Matt is not the problem.
truth
October 18th, 2010
11:20 am
We caome out with 5 WR set from the get go and put the defense on their heals would stop alot of this mess. You’re right GameReviewer, the Eagles knew what we were gonna do. We played right into it. We should have went in passing to open up the run on this one.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
October 18th, 2010
11:32 am
You all seem to be doing much better this morning.
FrontRow
October 18th, 2010
11:35 am
The Eagles came out with a game different from anything they have played so far. I.E. Eagles took advantage of the Falcons agressiveness with high school razzle dazzle.
Desean Jackson found out what happens when you play like high schoolers in the NFL. That crap only works once or twice in the NFL – the rest of the time the opposing defense will bust you in the mouth.
Dunta’s hit was clean, What was he supposed to do let the guy run around? That was the spark the Falcons needed unfortunately the refs stepped in and let the smurfs keep playing smurfball.
D.Roberson
October 18th, 2010
11:39 am
Sam Baker need’s to go M.Murlarkey need’s to go,BVG,need’s to go,this would be a lot to overcome but as of right now it’s like they play for the other team,and we need a quicker RB,and we need faster WR’S.Don’t get me wrong I love The Falcons but Murlarkey is way to conserveative and BVG will always get out coached by more aggressive coache’s who are’nt afraid to call screen passes and stretch the field,the Falcons coaching staff just cant handle aggressive play calling .As for Sam Baker Ryan will never have time to look to more than 1 WR as long as Baker is protecting his blind side!!!Also as much as I hate to admit it I think it’s time to find Abarham’s replacement WE NEED TO BE ABLE AND GET CONSTANT PRESSURE ON QB’S and if we can’t do it against backup’s how will we ever do it against starters (especially in games that are for play off births!!!Come on Falcons let’s get it together and put a stomping on the Bengals.
Tired
October 18th, 2010
11:40 am
@ ATLien
This ain’t the college league and we’re not BC…..
Plenty of players are great in college and not in the pro…and we’ve had plenty of them, my all time favorite flop….Andre Bruce
FrontRow
October 18th, 2010
11:45 am
@Tired….putting Matt Ryan in the same boat as Aundray Bruce?
You should turn in your man card you wimp. Falcons aren’t going to win every game and if the Eagles play razzle dazzle the rest of the season they won’t have any players left for the playoffs.
Like I said, D. Jackson learned what happens when you play smurfball in the NFL.
Tired
October 18th, 2010
11:55 am
@Frontrow
Of course we not going to win every game and I don’t who trying to fool, but you call it razzle dazzle, I call it a domineering, man handled, non offensive producing a$$ whipping
truth
October 18th, 2010
12:01 pm
It’s the Eagles, they have always had our number regaurdless who was QB, coach, or GM.
truth
October 18th, 2010
12:03 pm
We are 4-2 and the raod ahead still looks great.
Tired
October 18th, 2010
12:04 pm
hey, I hope I’m wrong, I’ll be happy if I am
truth
October 18th, 2010
12:05 pm
This may have been mentioned but how is D.Jackson?
truth
October 18th, 2010
12:06 pm
Young teams go through these things. We could be 2-4 you know.
Ron
October 18th, 2010
12:17 pm
Our defense had only faced second and third string Quarter backs except for Brees and as I said they were not playing well. In those games those guys moved the ball extremely well against our defense, hell they gave us all we could handle we were not shutting anybody down. And we were giving up a lot of yardage to receivers that were wide open,and the quarterbacks missed a lot of guys that were open and a lot of passes were dropped. I watched it and I realized we were getting lucky because that secondary was making a lot of mistakes, that is why I stated that when we played a good quarterback they would light us up as happened yesterday, against a guy that is no Drew Brees but he fit the part yesterday against us.
Honestly do you think Philly could do that against Pitt or the Ravens or the jets, hell no because they have good defenses, we will get there someday but you have to have the players and more importantly the coaching staff. Even the greatest teams loose games so ok we lost and we looked bad doing it,but what is hard to accept is that our problems are obvious, and a lot of folks on this blog know what they are, why does the coaching staff not realize these things, or at least they appear not to.
I am telling you I knew Philly was going to have a huge day throwing the ball against us, I told everybody to bet against Atlanta for that reason, and yet the team was totally unprepared. So what is the answer I don’t know but it is damn sure not more of the same !
badger58
October 18th, 2010
12:32 pm
Please, just stop with your fairweather fan crap. We’re either “bad fans” cause we’re not passionate, or we’re “bad fans” cause we’re upset with our team. Are Steeler’s fans “good fans”? Cause they rip their team when they stink because they expect better. I expect better too, and that performance was a complete embarrassment from top to bottom, and I’m calling it what it is.
Dallas Cowboys
October 18th, 2010
12:37 pm
Any of you Falcons fans want to teams with Jerry Jones. Ask yourselves would you want to watch the Cowboys instead of the Falcons (I don’t think so). The Cowboys are really a very badly coached team.
Coach Smith & TD, please understand, you’ve got maybe 2-3 positions “key players” to come up with and you will have the team.
Falcons Fans, you have a very good team – don’t lose support – the wins will come! You knew your team was not going to win them ALL – 11-5 is still VERY possible.
DefiantOne
October 18th, 2010
1:07 pm
@badger58
+1
The team played (and coached) not crap. Not the fans. Don’t blame us for noticing what was obvious.
D Money
October 18th, 2010
1:11 pm
I’m still sticking with my prediction of 10 wins this season and the playoffs but I don’t expect to go much further with Mike Mularkey at the helm. With the talent on this team there is no way that we should get blown out like that. Everyone knew, fan or not, at times we will have to rely on our offense to hang in games. A fun first teams simply means that a team runs when they want to. By that definition, we are not. You do what works and give the team a chance to win. I’m just tired or Mularkey’s schemes.
D Money
October 18th, 2010
1:12 pm
Oops fun first team= run first team
Ron
October 18th, 2010
1:21 pm
The lord gives us all spiritual gifts and I believe I have the gift of criticism, just kidding, I am a huge Falcon fan i criticize hopefully to be constructive not to tear down!
Hawes
October 18th, 2010
1:27 pm
You left out the quotes from Sam Baker:
“HELP!!!”
fish2774
October 18th, 2010
1:49 pm
Atlanta will do to Murlarkey what Pittsburgh had done and that was get rid of him for his lack of play calling and creativeness. Soon after the change they won superbowls under Wisenhaunt. There are a few spots that need upgrading which are LT, WR, RB,and LB. Baker isn’t getting it done, White needs someone to help him stretch the field, Peterson is to slow, a factor back with speed, and possibly a DE since Sidbury isn’t nowhere to be found.
PlanB
October 18th, 2010
2:03 pm
Blackbird 8:35am – last contender we beat was 2 weeks ago on the road. They were last years SB champs. I do have to agree with getting a new OC. If what we bring doesn’t work we have no other options. Games over.
Random thoughts: This team will learn. Next year, I’m for building a much better OL. We need a new LT. Baker maybe OK at RT.
One problem – looked like Abraham kept going inside for a sack and left the outside wide open. No one playing at home. We were out coached.
Turner looks like about 1/2 the time, he runs into the blockers back and not in the gaps. I don’t mean a couple yards downfield but when at the line of scrimmage.
Jenkins looked pretty good.
Not to imply what Robinson did was OK, but I think some teams are going to start dreading to play some of the hard hitters we have now.
All in all, we’ll be OK.
PlanB
October 18th, 2010
2:15 pm
Zoomie – You’re right Truth – right again. everyone knows we’re going to run. 8 in the box, if we pass, they blitz. We have to get better against it.
John
October 18th, 2010
2:42 pm
I hate this “defensless reciever (crap)rule” If you don’t want to get your guy injured then the QB’s got to know not to leave them open to those hits. I grudgingly agree with helmet to hemet calls (which Robinson’s hit was not), but Robinson’s hit was perfectly within the spirit of football as it should be. The NFL needs to stop trying to eliminate injury from football. To get injury out of football, you have to take football out of football.
Nupe1911
October 18th, 2010
3:34 pm
Exposed!
We need to get a pass rusher or a better cover coner. You can’t be without both. Although ryan is young, he still has to step up and make better plays(throws). Right now he is iffy. Got to be more cinsistent. It would help if we picked up another target for him to throw to. Gonzo and Roddy can’t do it by themselves. And im not even going to mention Turner…. wow. We need to look at replacing him through the draft next yr or free agency. We can still pull this thing together if we can atleast adress one of the issues above. If not, 9-7 at best.
MV77777!11
October 18th, 2010
3:41 pm
YOU KNOW WHAT????????????????????
SOME OF THE FANS IN ATLANTA & THE TV FANS & BLOGGERS DONT UNDERSTAND. THEY ARE HURTING THIS FALCON TEAM WITH ALL THIS BULLSH#T….. REDNECK BULLSH#T….HATERS. MR.AUTHUR BLANK YOU ARE CRAZY AS HELL TO LET THESE FANS TELL YOU IN SO MANY WORDS HOW TO RUN YOUR TEAM. (FU#K THEMMMM) SHOP AT LOWES!!!!!! AT THE RATE THIS SH#T IS GOING MR. BLANK YOUR GOING TO LOSE ALL YOUR GOOD PLAYERS BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS TO PLAY FOR REDNECKS. FROM MCKAY ON DOWN BUDDY!!!!!…ITS ALMOST TO LATE FOR YOU MR .BLANK.(HOMEDEPOT OR THE FALCONS) THATS WHY 25,000 OF YOUR OLD FANBASE AN MYSELF SUPPORT MICHAEL VICK (EAGLES). BE A MAN !!!!! A OWNER LIKE JERRY JONES… WITH SOME BALLS…..
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nupe1911
October 18th, 2010
3:43 pm
Great comment badger58… We are fans. I will always support the falcons no matter what. But expressing our concerns and thoughts either positive or negative is my right as a fan. I expect greatness. if we loose with great play it is what it is. But what we witnessed yesturday wasn’nt great it was an embarrassment. the game plan was terrible but i’m sure that all changed when we went down 21-0 so you had to adjust your game plan at that time. but now when it was 7-0… we couldnt move the ball at all. We have to change or we will continue to be exposed. We barely beat CLE. We should have lost to NOL. We got talent just got to add a piece or two to it.
Joe Tess Fish House
October 18th, 2010
4:03 pm
I expect thius teem will likey fold as the season progreses. Ryan is losing it. He is actualy getting worst after each week.
FrontRow
October 18th, 2010
4:31 pm
All that is true but Aundray Bruce?….you going for you own spot on “c’mon man”.