ATLANTA -- Quotes from Falcons players and coaches about the Giants game...
Head Coach Bobby Petrino
Opening Statement:
”It was a tough game and we faced a good football team. I thought we were ready to play. We competed and held our own for a while, but they separated from us later in the game. They were definitely the better football team tonight.”
On the overall performance of the team:
“They started to dominate the line of scrimmage. I thought we ran the ball well early. RB Jerious (Norwood) had the big run early. We had a good opening script and moved the ball down the field, but we only got a field goal. Eventually we could not sustain the run and we were not able to execute in the passing game.”
On the defense creating turnovers and not being able to convert into points:
“It is frustrating. The game was 21-10 and we got a turnover with a penalty on top of it, giving us good field position. We were not able to convert the third down to continue the drive. In the first half we were able to get into third and short or third and medium situations, and then in the second half our inability to convert third downs really hurt us.”
On QB Byron Leftwich being the third quarterback:
“He injured his ankle in practice this week and missed two days. With being new to everything and not practicing I felt like it was the only thing we could do.”
On the play of T Tyson Clabo and T Renardo Foster:
“I thought they held their own. Those were two really good football players on the other side of them. They did not give up the big hit or sack. They certainly got some push and some pressure, but I think they both competed well. They practiced hard during the week and I thought they held their own.”
LB Keith Brooking
Thoughts on the game:
”We fought, but at the end of the day, we just didn’t make the plays we needed to make. It’s a tough loss. We fought hard and I thought we gave a great effort, but they lined up and beat us physically towards the end of the game. We had a lot of plays and we wore them down, but in the end, we couldn’t stop them.”
With so many questions surrounding this team, when are we going to see some answers?
“The answers come through showing up everyday and working. There is no magic potion. In tough times, you need to stay together as a team. We need to keep working hard and have the mindset that we need to get better. Tough times don’t last, tough people do. That’s the mentality we need to have.”
LB Michael Boley
Thoughts on the game:
“I don’t know what to say right now. We just need to get better in everything we’re doing right now. We had some plays that didn’t go our way. We need to get some things going, not only on defense, but as a whole team. Overall, it’s tough losing.”
Thoughts on the inconsistency on both sides of the ball:
“It’s all frustrating. We’re one and five right now. That’s not good.”
DE John Abraham
On his injury during the game:
”I just hit my head on somebody. I’m not really sure what happened. I know I hit something, I just don’t know what I hit, though. It’s nothing big. I’m fine.”
General comments on the game:
“It was a tough loss. I can’t really say what we did or didn’t do. I know we had three turnovers and on defense we didn’t stop them like we wanted to. I know I didn’t get enough pressure on the quarterback like I planned on doing. It was a team loss. I don’t think we played well in any phase of the game.”
TE Alge Crumpler
On the outcome of the game:
“We fought so hard all week to try to make sure we turned this ship around but those guys really outplayed us, bottom line. We’re sitting in a situation where we are record-wise, we have to find a way to win ballgames. We just didn’t play well enough as a unit and as a team to win the game.”
On frustration building among the Falcons:
“It’s frustrating. We’ve just got to stay the course. That’s the only thing we can do at this point. We’ve had it every which way – we’ve had close losses and we’ve been blown out. But, the bottom line is we’ve got to find ways to score and we’ve got to find ways to win games. After the way this game started, I felt like it was just going to be a good, fun game. But they just played a little bit better than we did.”
RB Warrick Dunn
On the Falcons turning things around:
“We’ve just have to figure out how you can turn things around. Obviously, it’s not easy and a lot of people are frustrated from top to bottom. So, it’s just one of those situations that you have to try to figure out how you can come out of it. For us, it’s been tough because we’ve been close, but still haven’t reached that pinnacle. The last two weeks, I just don’t think we’ve played well enough to win.”
QB Joey Harrington
On the offense:
”It was a tough loss for us tonight, but the Giants are a very good team. I think we started off fine. Then it seemed as if we hit the wall in the second quarter. We have to give them credit because they stuck to their game plan and never went away from it. As a whole, our whole team effort could’ve been better and we will work on that this week. We will get in the meeting rooms this week and focus on what we need to improve on.”
Giants head coach Tom Coughlin
On his team’s respect for the Falcons:
“We have tremendous amount of respect for Atlanta. They are a good defensive football team. They have only given up more than one touchdown to one team. They have some problems obviously on the offensive side of the ball. I thought they did an excellent coaching job with two tackles down and they did a great job against our rush. They deserve a lot of credit for their performance tonight.”
On his special teams:
“I thought our special teams really helped us tonight. We used a variety of different kinds of kicks. It was not always the ideal kick position, but we still got the ball around the 45-yard line.”
On running the ball:
“I thought sometimes we did play well offensively and then sometimes we did not. I thought there were some issues. Sometimes we sold ourselves out. We had some moments in the first half where we threw the ball very well.”
LB Antonio Pierce
How did the defense recover from Norwood’s touchdown run?
"Well, that was very disappointing to us. It’s one of those things where you have a good first series, and then you come out in the second series and drop the ball. For the most part we played pretty solid defense against their running game.”
On how they didn’t allow points after turnovers:
“To me that was the biggest play of the game. A couple of times they got within field goal range and got nothing out of it. A lot of credit goes to the defense and our coaches.”
DE Osi Umenyiora
About picking up the slack for the offense early on:
“That’s what teamwork is all about. If they make a mistake, we have to pick them up. If we make a mistake, they need to help us out.”
On winning their fourth game in a row:
“We’ve always known we are a good football team. We let everybody else doubt us. We have a lot of strong characters guys on this team. We bounce back, and keep on fighting.”
On bouncing back after allowing a long touchdown run/Norwood:
“We were calm. This defense has confidence. It was a mistake that we made. We knew the offense would go right down the field and answer the score. And hey, we shut them out the rest of the game.”
QB Eli Manning
Opening Statement:
”It was good to come out and get points up on the board early. We got two quick touchdowns. We definitely needed that as Atlanta started out fast as well. We were able to run it and use the play action to throw it down the field today. Guys were getting open and doing a good job, which led to some points. We had the ball for over 40 minutes in the game and when you do that you will wear down the defense. I had a couple of turnovers and I can’t afford to do that. The defense was playing well and made some big stops. They are playing great, but I don’t need to put them in those kinds of situations.”
WR Plaxico Burress
On his touchdown reception:
“It was just play action pass. I saw him coming up so I took off. I didn’t want him to grab me. I was bracing myself for him to grab me, so I just ran right on.”
On missing practice each of the first six weeks but continuing to perform at a high level:
“Just watching a lot of film. Getting a lot of mental reps in practice during the week. Just being where he wants me to be when the ball comes out of his hands. That’s really all I can do.”
On his rapport with Eli Manning:
“We’ve been playing together for two years. We’ve pretty much got a feel for each other. I know where to be at. I know the audibles. It’s just me being in the right place to catch the football.”
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-GIANTS GAME:
- GAMEDAY: All the coverage from the Giants-Falcons game
- STATS AND PLAY-BY-PLAY: NFL.com Game Center
- GAME NOTES: Updates and injury news from the Georgia Dome press box
- INACTIVES: Inactives and starters from Week 6
- QUOTABLE: Thoughts on the game from Falcons players and coaches
- VIDEO: Head Coach Bobby Petrino
- VIDEO: Quarterback Joey Harrington
- VIDEO: Linebacker Keith Brooking
- VIDEO: Cornerback DeAngelo Hall
- VIDEO: Tight end Alge Crumpler
- VIDEO: Running back Jerious Norwood
- VIDEO: Can't Miss Play -- Jerious Norwood
- VIDEO: Falcons-Giants Analysis
- HIGHLIGHTS: Game highlights from NFL Network
