It may have been the shortest opening statement of Head Coach Mike Smith’s tenure:
“As I said yesterday, there are no moral victories in the NFL and we did not make enough plays yesterday to win the football game. And, with that, I’ll open it up to questions…”
What else to say?
The Falcons went toe-to-toe with the best team in the NFC Sunday and had fourth-quarter chances to win the game.
http://video.atlantafalcons.com/video/212701/212701_2009-12-14-153958.flvAtlanta played Sunday’s game without four starters — three on offense — but Smith made it clear his team won’t set themselves back with bumps and bruises.
“We’re not going to use injuries as an excuse,” he said. “We’ve had our share of injuries this season and we’ve had some guys that missed a game or two here. That’s part of the NFL season and we’re not going to use it as an excuse.”
Instead, he focused on improved play on offense, which included a 300-yard passing day from quarterback Chris Redman, starting his second-straight game for Matt Ryan (toe) and running backs Jerious Norwood and Jason Snelling.
Redman said the team executed better on offense than in last week’s 34-7 dismantling at the hands of the Eagles. The only problem? Kicking field goals in the red zone instead of punching the ball into the end zone.
“They’re arguably one of the best teams in the league and we were right there with them,” Redman said. “I guess that’s a positive. We could have won that. It’s obviously disappointing.”
Added Smith: “We had eight different receivers catch balls so he was going through his progressins… The offensive line did a great job only giving up one sack. I thought it was a very good bounce back game against a very opportunistic Saints defense.”
Smith couldn’t escape the podium, however, without fielding questions and comments about the Falcons playoff chances. Simply put, the Birds have to win their last three games and hope for the Cowboys to go 0-3 down the stretch. Atlanta also needs the New York Giants to lose two of their last three contests.
“We have to take care of our business,” Smith said. “I don’t think there’s any scenario out there that would allow us to qualify if we don’t take care of business on our end.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM MONDAY’S PRESSER…
… The Falcons have been mum on any appeal or seeking of additional knowledge on a debatable pass interference call that wiped away a Brent Grimes interception in Sunday’s game.
… Atlanta will place wide receiver Brian Finneran (knee) on injured reserve. Finneran’s injury won’t require surgery but, with time to heal, the veteran receiver should be ready for offseason conditioning. “Brian has been a staple around this team for a long time and he’s one of the guys I respect a lot in how he plays the game.”
… Smith has a history with New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan. In fact, Smith, Rex and his brother Rob all were defensive coordinators in the Ohio Valley Conference at the same time.
… Jonathan Babineaux started Sunday’s game at defensive tackle three days after an arrest in Gwinnett County. Smith said he and the organization remain disappointed when any player presents himself in “a negative light” but he offered no other comment as the situation has become a legal and league matter.
… There will be no word on player injuries, particularly to Michael Turner, Ryan, Harvey Dahl and Chris Houston until the injury report is released on Wednesday.
21 Comments
Yea the playoff talks seem so far but actually not as far as people think?? If you take a look at what happen yesterday with both dallas and the giants losing it really didnt set anything back for the falcons to make the playoffs. If Falcons win out the remaining 3 games and Dallas continue their Dec run with losing the remaining 3 games and the giants lose two out of the three remaining games that will still put the falcons in the playoff run. giving Dallas an 8-8 record the giants an 8-8 record and putting Greenbay and the falcons in the playoffs. Yea we do need alot of help but looking at the both of those teams schedule isnt as bad as people think. I say We keep fighting and see what happens at the end of 17 weeks. It can come down very interesting at the end!!
I would be happy with 9-7 record with or without playoffs. Let’s just get the monkey off our backs. We have a good team and we are only going to get better. The Saints are in for a rude awakening and it is going to happen soon. It would be terrible to go 16-0 and lose the first or second round in the playoffs.
o well…maybe next year. lets just finish no higher than 8-8 an hopefully we will get greg hardy in the draft and trade up for that CB outta florida state in the secound round
2011 draft trade are 2 round pick for a top rate line backer and 2012 trade are 2 round pick for another top rate DE
well i guess i should have a lot of new recruits on my RELEASE GRIMES Campaign this morning…. Grimes Sux
i do give him props on that int…it just shows that he does learn. i wish are other cb would learn to get there head around. you obviously have no idea how hard it is to learn how to get your head around and lean to make the catch cause youve probably never played football.
grimes probalem is hes to small. put his talent in jamall anderson an we would have a julius peppers
j mike i got a question 4 u,well 2 actually. who calls the plays when
we run the no huddle in the middle of the game?what happen 2 freedom
of speach? when i got an opinion about ownership my post seem to
disappear from the message board
RODDY WHITE WAS HOLDIN OUT IN THE SUMMER, THIS YEAR HE SHOULD WORK OUT WIH LARRY FITZGERALD
I think we need to get stronger in our secondary to compete during Jan. That has to be one of our main concerns in this years draft. I really hope we get better on third downs and we are not to far from being great.
I like that owens kid eventhough he got burn on that go route by colston i believe he was suppose to have safety help on that play.. where was the help?? Anyways His recovery speed was amazing surprizing when he limit that damage cuz normally it would of been a TD but i believe they end up kicking a FG if i wasnt mistaken. Anyways.. Grimes does improve every week and he does learn from his mistakes its just that he not as strong or as fast or better yet talented as the other corners and he misses alot tackles cuz i guess he cant tackle too good. I cant wait til we pick up some solid free agents next year. Draft in the 2010 is looking very good with alot of players that can be drafted all the way down to the 4th round. I believe that 2nd round pick is going to hurt us this year cuz now our first two draft picks got put on IR.
Man ablazinmachinegun Brent Grimes is the best and most consistent corner we have with all the injuries….Chris houston can seem to pull it together even when he is healthy….Grimes should stay we just need A legit Starter….we need to use Weems more….a better back up at running back than snelling and a better secodary receiver than Michael Jenkins! No reason all the other teams find talent like the young kid with the Browns and we have Jason Snelling….He is SLOW!!!! Also, we should have kept Thomas Brown and used him….he could have really helped us I think!
hey guys if you get a chance please read this story. its just an inspirational story about an old high school coach of mine, suffering from ALS. very inspirational and heroic story.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/high-school/greenville-football-coach-plans-241133.html
hey guys if you get a chance please read this story. its just an inspirational story about an old high school coach of mine, suffering from ALS. very inspirational and heroic story.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/high-school/greenville-football-coach-plans-241133.htmlh
great try guys
I was proud the way they played! It showed some heart. Now we aren’t out of the playoff race yet. Dallas still plays N.O, Loss, Washington, Prob loss, and Philly, Loss. Win out and we can make it. Here we go boys. Keep the Faith Fans. Go Falcons!
Look, Atlanta caught some tough breaks this year with injuries, poor play by Elam, and as usually crummy play by our defense. The season is ooooooover. Although there is a slight chance of the playoffs, I would say the sequence of all the events that need to take place would be as likely as Brent Grimes covering Randy Moss (it isn’t going to happen). Atlanta has lost 6 of its last 8. What makes anyone think they can win three straight when we barely beat Tampa… AT HOME! Lets look to next year and hope we make some good moves for a more improved defense.
hmm…whats the deal here, two posts were put up under my name that were definitely put up by someone other than me. whatever…yeah, thats my main beef with Grimes, he’s so damn dainty, seems like you usually see him bouncing off receivers, or getting dragged by them over a first down marker or simply getting torched. Yeah yeah he has a 97 jumping rating in madden 10…but last time i checked you need to do more than just jump in the NFL!
I See that im not the only one who thinks that (Grimes) sucks… I agree we need to get better corners on the field, but not all through the draft… their will be some big names in the free agent pool at the end of the season, and that is were we need to start looking… The draft wont give us an all-star corner right away…. We should use the draft to get O-LINE and D-LINE men, maybe even a reciever that can catch the ball when it hits his hands, unlike (jinkens) who cost us the game agaist the saints….
we would not be talking about corners poor play if our pass rush was better.
Just a thought
falcons vs jets is going to be a good game, we need this game just like u’s need it. its gunna be a battle. good luck…i don’t hate the falcons…go jets tho!