Q&A: Mike Smith not happy with execution
Falcons wide receiver Roddy White (84) can't hang onto a fourth quarter pass from quarterback Matt Ryan. AP
TAMPA – Falcons coach Mike Smith is clearly not pleased with how his team is performing and clearly knows that he has problems along the offensive line.
OPENING STATEMENT: I felt like that we fought our tails off to get back into the game. We didn’t play very well. We didn’t do a whole lot of good things in the first three quarters and at the end of the day we just dug ourselves [into] too big of a hole and we weren’t able to execute the things that we need to execute there at the end of the ball game to give us a chance. We’ve got to do a better job in all three phases of the game if we want to have an opportunity to win ball games. We can’t turn the ball over like we did and have the turnovers in the red zone. Those are crucial and we’ve got to continue to work on protecting our quarterback, especially there in the first half. [Matt Ryan] got hit way too many times, and two of those turnovers were a direct result of our quarterback getting hit. And with that I’ll open it up with questions.
ON THE OFFSIDES PENALTY ON THE FOURTH-AND-ONE: You guys saw it on tape. They were not going to snap the football. It was going to be a freeze play. They were going to use a hard count. We talked about it on the sidelines. We did not execute as an entire defense, […] one person in that play did not determine the outcome of the game. There were lots of plays in this ball game today in which we didn’t get our job done.
ON WHAT HE’S SEING IN HIS TEAM: We’re making way too many mistakes in terms of penalties and we’re not hitting on all cylinders right now. That’s something that we’ve got to get fixed and it’s […] something that we’ve been working on since the beginning of the season and we will continue to work on it. Those are a bunch of proud men in there. We didn’t get the outcome that we wanted today, but we are going to work at it. It’s a long season. We’ve got a loss on the road to a divisional opponent. That’s what happened.
ON BEING DOWN BY 10 IN EACH GAME THIS SEASON: We have not started fast. We have not gotten out of the chute like we would like. Every coach in this league talks about starting fast. It’s one of the things that you have to do and we have not done that up to this point. The guys continue to fight hard. They have resolve, but we’ve got to make sure that we come out of the game hitting on all cylinders and I’ll [take] my hat off to the Tampa Bay Bucs. Today they were the better team.”
ON HIS LINE: Of course when you get your starting center that had played 144 consecutive games, getting him back is big for us. Again, we’ve got a lot of areas to address. You saw the ball game and you know that there are certain things that we’re not doing as efficiently and as effectively as we need to. That’s the bottom line.
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123 comments Add your comment
Curly
September 26th, 2011
11:23 pm
We can take Seatle. Just keep Ryan from have massive bone fractures. Ryan better come out firing cause his line “ain’t up to snuff” as we say in Valdosta
Nevascared
September 27th, 2011
8:30 am
I love the fact that we have adversity right now. This is going to make us a stronger team. I don’t want it to be easy for us this year. I want us to go through right now so that we can be strong in the playoffs and make it to the Superbowl. Take the Giants for istant they struggled in the begining of the year win they won the Superbowl. The Packers had their struggles last year and they made it to the Superbowl and The Falcons are having their struggles right now. Introducing the 2011 Super Bowl Champs The ATLANTA FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!
lombardi
September 27th, 2011
8:57 am
“Mike Smith not happy with execution” I’m more than happy with the execution of the whole team. When can we do it?
Jay Cool 4daBirds
September 27th, 2011
9:52 am
I’m not in panic mode, but I do want to see us hit on all cylinders before we play GB. The defense is playing much better and Julio looks beast. Turner will run for atleast 1500 yds this season and Gonzalez will score 10-15 TD’s. After game five is completed, we would have played the toughest part of our schedule.
Curly
September 27th, 2011
10:15 am
Ryan needs to have orthopedic surgeons and nurses set up on the sidelines to keep him primed and ready to lead this team. Line ain’t protecting their bread and butter
Ivan
September 27th, 2011
11:32 am
Baker has to be the problem. It’s only thing I can think of that seems to make any sense. We lose one lineman in the off season. No way one guy was stopping all the pressure going after the QB. It stands to reason the other teams must have figured out that all you need to do is rush Baker’s side, and you win.
There’s only a few ways to get around this weakness. If I don’t see more shotgun formations to mitigate the rush against Seattle(cuz we know we won’t see any screens), then I’ll jump on the Mularky Must Go bandwagon.
Casey
September 27th, 2011
12:11 pm
Why don’t they cut the punter and sign a new one? There has to be somebody out there that couldn’t do any worse.
saintbim
September 27th, 2011
3:23 pm
?
Not a Falcon fan
September 27th, 2011
5:05 pm
Why is everyone upset with the play of the Falcons? It’s the same old Falcons. Just a different year.
mark
September 27th, 2011
5:07 pm
maybe we need to switch to a 3-4 defense man blitz all over the place
mark
September 27th, 2011
5:10 pm
Jay Cool 4daBirds
After game five is completed, we would have played the toughest part of our schedule
this guy is right man after week 5 its a whole new season lest hope the o line find his groove
mark
September 27th, 2011
5:11 pm
and what is wrong with the punter that has to bee the worst draft pick in 34 years i would do it better its very odd when a punter avg its 36 yrds! has to go
Old Dawg
September 27th, 2011
5:13 pm
It’s the uniforms, plan and simple. They totally stink. Better uniforms, better performance!
Just kidding, but I totally HATE Atlanta’s uniforms!! In the words of Terry Bradshaw – they’re butt-ugly!
saintbim
September 27th, 2011
5:40 pm
uh mark; need to check your schedule again.
Realfalconfan
September 27th, 2011
7:43 pm
here is the answer???? eye of the tiger and we dont have it
Dr M
September 28th, 2011
2:54 am
FIRE MULARKEY NOW DAMMIT!!!!!! PLEASE!!!! COACHING MUST CHANGE!!!!! WHY THE HELL DO YOU GO DEEP TO JULIO JONES AT THE “END” OF THE GAME MAN???? WHY WAIT??? THIS COACHING LED BY SMITH IS TOO WEAK AND PUNK BITC#Y!!!!!! MAN I WISH I WAS THE COACH. I WOULD HAVE A DEEP PASS ON EVERY FIRST POSSESION!!! IM TRYING TO WIN MAN, NOT BE HERE ALL DAY WITH THE SAME OLE BULLSH#T!!! YA GOTTA KICK AS# MAN!!!
R Brown
September 28th, 2011
6:10 am
I’ve said it here before; the Falcons are an 8-8 team. I hope I’m wrong but I doubt it.
Every week so far the Falcons have helped to elevate every opposing Defense to the vaunted “Steel Curtain” lore. All sensible fans know each of the 3 teams we’ve played, none even come close to such heady comparisons. But the Falcons make dreams possible for other teams. Ryan couldn’t get away from his grandmother in the pocket and that’s a problem. His arm appears so weak that when the pocket collapses, he can’t even get the ball back to his dumpoff man at the line of scrimmage. ( that’s at best 10 yards people!!!) A weak arm with zero elusiveness leads to disaster. Come on folks, it’d be great if Ryan was the man but he isn’t. And by the way, we don’t have Kevin Kolb or Schaub or Daunte Culpepper coming off the bench in the event Ryan goes down. WE’VE got Redmond. Atlanta needs a better backup QB to shore up the position and to push Ryan to be better. No reason to hunkerdown Ryan when you know you won’t be replaced. The defense is capable but pressure on the opposing QB is relatively non-existent. After going out and getting rush help, we still can’t seem to get to the QB. And don’t let me get started on the KO and Punt man. Heck he made a great tackle in Tampa, the Falcons should put him on defense and go get someone who can punt 40+ yards consistently. So what, Roddy dropped a couple tough passes. When was the last time we had that to talk about. Heck, the man’s been clutch for the past 3 years. But Ryan on the other hand, every week there’s significant criticism of our QB after each game. Dimitroff’s not a genius, Turner’s not the burner anymore, Bosher’s not an NFL kicker and Ryan’s not the answer. Arthur Blank however is as good an owner as a city could want. He’s spending his money to get the best (so the genius says) and so far the team is just stealing from him.
I’ve said it here before; the Falcons are an 8-8 team. I hope I’m wrong but I doubt it
MUFFIN
September 28th, 2011
8:49 am
MAKE EM CUT THE DAM N DREADLOCKS AND LOOK LIKE PLAYERS…
.
September 28th, 2011
8:50 am
.
tolberto
September 28th, 2011
9:56 am
CGD. your not too bright are ya???
Master Reynolds
September 28th, 2011
10:47 am
Amen @ Pool Guy. If smitty can’t see what we the fans see with the play calling then he needs to go as well. I hate to admit this, but I really would have liked to see what Petrino and that coaching staff he put together would have done. He may have been a jerk, but that was a pretty good staff he had. Zimmerman from Dallas, Hugh Jackson from the bengals. Many people don’t realize that was the reason roddy started being such a premier receiver. Hugh Jackson was one of the best receivers coach in the league and would have done just as good at offensive cor. A whole lot better than this mularchy bum
james hand
September 28th, 2011
11:21 am
Turner is not running hard, he just tipping in the hole.
Falcons have 1st down and goal and can not run the ball in for a TD. We got to be able to run the ball first if we going to be a good football team. I hope the o line get better. [go falcons]
james hand
September 28th, 2011
11:23 am
first down and goal on the 5 yard line