Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress
I think Bernard (Berrian) sprained his ankle a little bit. Obviously he was able to come back into the game. But that doesn’t appear to be serious. Bottom line, seven times (we) had the ball on the ground, (we) lost four, three in plus-territory. Before you talk about any other statistics, that can’t happen if you’re going to have a realistic chance to win the game. I don’t care about explosive plays. I don’t care about defense (or) four out of five three-and-outs. I don’t care about any of that stuff. You’ve got to take care of the football. That’s what we’re all fighting over. You really turn things into a left-handed game and play football that you don’t want to be playing unless you absolutely have to. It wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t good enough securing the football. We have a standard, in terms of guys that touch it, protecting it. We didn’t do a very good job.
We control our destiny. We need to pour everything into next week and get ourselves squared away in that area.
Q: Why do you think you fumbled the ball seven times?
A: They’re all different flavored fumbles. If I had that (answer), I’d bottle it and sell it.
Q: All losses are tough but will this one gnaw at you more because had you not fumbled you may have been able to win this game?
A: They all count the same. This one just had a different twist to it. Every one of them has a little different character, a little different set of circumstances. If you had told me that it was a seven-fumble-lose-four game, I’d have probably called you a liar, yesterday.
Q: On Atlanta’s fumble in the end zone, it looked like you guys had a chance to fall on it?
A: We had a chance to fall on it. And we were talking turnover there. We weren’t talking holding them to three. We were talking about getting the ball turned over. Once again, an opportunity, but you have to make the most of that opportunity there and fall on that ball. That’s a huge swing right there.
Q: Is there any concern about Adrian Peterson fumbling the ball?
A: Other than the fact that it’s happening, I don’t see any one thing that is an issue. Whether it’s a high-and-tight issue. It’s an issue of he gets himself in some different positions. I didn’t see anybody pulling it, or ripping it, or stripping it to cause that. I just thought it was a lack of security and forget the reads and the movement and all that. At the end of the line, you have to make sure that you got the ball. We had one dropped on the ground that he got back on the draw play where there really wasn’t that big of a collision. He didn’t have it secured. He needs to go back and re-double his effort in that area.
Q: How will Adrian react to his fumbles?
A: He’s not good with it but he’s not in the tank over it either. He’s a team player and he’s the first one to pat himself on the chest and say, “I did that, it’s my fault coach.” He’ll take ownership of it and he’s accountable for it and you appreciate that about him and if I know Adrian he’s going to set his nose to the grindstone and that’s not going to happen here next week.
Q: Did Adrian take ownership of the fumble on the bad handoff exchange with Tavaris?
A: You know that was such a boom, boom thing I didn’t see a replay on that. I don’t know if he was reacting to what he saw in front of him because he’s not looking for the handoff he just has his pocket open. I don’t know if something flashed or moved, I need to look back and look at that thing. You just don’t expect handing the football off, penetration or not, to loose the ball right there.
Q: What was the explanation on the snap that Birk hiked past Tavaris?
A: They (Atlanta) were lined up in a zero blitz and he (Birk) was trying to re-identify the MIKE (MLB) and and Tarvaris was looking in the back end to see what he was going to get versus the blitz pressure and Matt hiked it back and Tavaris didn’t get his eyes back on the center.
Q: How do you feel Tavaris played under adverse situations today?
A: I thought he did decent from the stand point of having to make some moving throws and creating on his own. They wanted to play a lot of man-to-man and my first preference and his first preference is to have him scramble, I thought he broke their back on a couple of those break outs which he has the ability to do but I thought he threw it very well as well.
Q: Did the loss of Pat Williams have any effect on the game?
A: I wouldn’t until I look at the tape. We did hold them to four three-and-outs out of five possessions in the second half. I think the rhythm of their no-huddle and the changes of personnel which were a little bit tough to catch up with and I think we hurt ourselves with a couple third down penalties if I’m not mistaken.
Q: What were you thinking on the fourth-and-eight with just over five minutes left?
A: Two scores down. Just felt like we needed to go for it at that point in time. I know we had timeouts but just felt like hey, were we going to have it in that position again, we just weren’t sure. With two scores down I just felt like we needed to be aggressive with it.
Q: Are you going to re-evaluate who will start at quarterback next week?
A: I won’t re-evaluate it right now, I know that.
Tight End Visanthe Shiancoe
Q: It was a disappointing loss today, but by far your best game as a pro. After all of the personal stats and accomplishments you had today, it probably means nothing?
A: It doesn’t mean anything if we come out with a loss. All we can do now is look forward to playing the Giants next week.
Q: How does the team bounce back after all of the turnovers today?
A: We have to detail our work. It was a bad performance by our offense today and none of us are happy about it. But we have to keep our heads up, and come in to do work next week.
Q: So you have two opportunities ahead of you. You can control your own destiny by pulling off a win next week, or if Green Bay comes out with a win against the Bears tomorrow.
A: It’s too bad that it has to come down to that. We should have closed the deal today. But they had a great defense and we needed to play a lot better then we did.
Q: In the second half of this season we’ve all seen a different Visanthe Shiancoe. Talk about how the light switch has been turned on.
A: It’s not really about me. It’s about the Minnesota Vikings. Just being able to come out and play after every week of working hard at practice. Then being able to put it all together on the field. Today we didn’t get that done.
Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson
Q: What happened on the plays you fumbled?
A: On the handoff I can’t really tell you what exactly what happened, but have got to make that exchange. On the other one I have to do a better job of taking care of the football. I had the ball in my hand, I was about to pull it away, but the guy made a good play and hit me and the ball went flying back.
Q: Was there miscommunication on the snap that went over your head?
A: Yeah. We got to do a better job of getting on the same page. He was ready. I wasn’t ready. We just got do a better job; that’s pretty much it.
Q: Do you feel like you are more dangerous when you run?
A: I guess. I am not running just to run. I am running when it is there. I am running with merit. I am not running just because I can. When it opens up, I see it, if nobody is open, I just take off.
Q: Is your son doing better now and do you think that coincides with you playing better?
A: I guess. He is up here now. So that is good. He is doing a lot better. He has gone through a lot since he was born, but he is good now. He is a tough kid. He is doing real well, so I hope he stays like that.
Q: Was there just one thing he was dealing with?
A: There were issues he had even before he was born.
Q: Before the season you talked about wanting to be better at deciding when to slide. Do you feel like you should have maybe gone down a couple of times today?
A: I guess I should have slid a couple of times, but I feel like I am a tough guy. At the same time I have to do a better job of getting down, but even when I didn’t slide, those licks, they didn’t hurt. That is why I am in the weight room. That is why we train and stuff like that. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have to slide. I feel like I don’t have to slide every time.
Q: Does it seem like the game is slowing down for you a bit?
A: Yeah. I am seeing things a lot clearer. The coaches are doing a great job with us in the film room breaking things down. Just watching from the sideline for 12, 13 weeks helped a lot.
Q: Do you feel like for a young quarterback you are doing a goob job of putting mistakes behind you and moving on?
A: Yeah. The coaches preach that all the time: you can’t do anything about the last play, you can’t do anything about the future – about the next play – you just got to take care of what you are doing right now. Everybody is doing a better job of that now period. Overall we put everything behind us and just fighting and we kept fighting. The defense fought hard today. The offense fought hard. The offensive line did a great job today fighting. Everybody showed a great effort today. Obviously we didn’t come out with the win, but it shows the character of our team today how we just kept fighting throughout the game.
Q: Do you think that your final to Sidney Rice pass should have been flagged for defensive pass interference?
A: Yes. We think it is pass interference, but it is the refs job to make that call and he made the call and obviously he thought he made the right call. We will go back and look at it on film, but we are going to be biased anyway because it is our guy. But whenever a guy can’t put his hand up, he can only put one hand up, obviously it’s probably pass interference but he made the call.
Q: How quickly can this team forget about this game?
A: Obviously we are going to think about it. We still control our own destiny, but we could have ended it right here today. We could have had a better feeling than we do right now, but we are in control of everything. We still can go out next week and win. We are not looking for anybody to give us anything, we are going to try and take care of business next week ourselves.
Q: Talk about your individual confidence level right now?
A: I am just having fun, playing loose, making quick decisions, going out there and just being me. Earlier in the year I was putting too much pressure on myself, thinking too much, not being Tarvaris. Now I am just out there having fun, playing loose and just taking care of the football. When we are having fun all the other stuff is going to take care of itself.
Q: What happened when you had to burn that timeout early on your final drive?
A: We were just trying to get the protection right. We were trying to get guys going in the right direction, but we ran out of time so I just had to call a timeout. I probably should have just taken the five yards and saved the time out. But in the heat of the moment I felt that we needed every yard that we could get.
Q: Do you feel like you are a better quarterback today than you were a year ago?
A: Yeah. I feel a lot more comfortable. I just feel like since I have been benched I really have had nothing to loose. As far as me going in there and putting a lot of pressure on myself it is like, Okay, you can go back to what you were doing and be back on the sideline again or just be you. Be free. Just play.
Defensive End Ray Edwards
Q: What does it do, momentum-wise, when you guys make a good play and then they quickly respond?
A: Like I said, you have to be able to respond. There are going to be ups and downs in the game. That’s just what you have to do, go out there and make more plays than the other defense makes. I feel like we didn’t do that today. They had more turnovers than we did.
Q: Does it help knowing that you still control your own destiny?
A: We hold our own destiny. We have to focus on the Giants, who are coming in here next. We’ll see the same thing. They have a great running back in Brandon Jacobs. We have to study that film and see what they’re going to try and have him do against us. (We) have to stop that and make them one dimensional.
Q: Can you talk about the fact that you were able to contain Matt Ryan and Michael Turner?
A: We definitely did for the majority of the game. Turner is a great back and we were just trying to keep him under control. Matt Ryan is a great quarterback. He got the ball where it needed to go early on, putting it on the money. You can’t ask for anything more from your offense.
Q: How does it feel right now?
A: We definitely feel disappointed because there were a couple of calls that should have gone the other way. Ebbs and flows of the game, you just have to be able to respond to them.
Q: How do you feel you guys played as a defensive line without Pat Williams?
A: We can’t worry about Pat not being here. We love him as a brother. Things happen in football. You have injuries. You have to be able to play without him and the game goes on. We still played today. We have to see what we did wrong and make the corrections.
Defensive Tackle Kevin Williams
Q: How big of a loss was it today not having Pat Williams?
A: We did great. We definitely missed him but for the most part we held it down inside. The guy hit a lot of runs outside. We missed a lot of tackles on the edge and that hurt us. He got some seven or eight-yard runs in.
Q: You have to look at the turnovers. You guys turned it over and they didn’t.
A: Definitely. They took care of the ball and they made the best out of the opportunity that was given to them. You can’t miss tackles in a big game like this and turn it over at the same time. The other team capitalized. Hats off to them.
Q: How good is Matt Ryan?
A: He did some great things. He was getting rid of the ball. A lot of it was that we turned it over and gave them a short field. All he had to do was hand it off to that big guy and he did a lot of work.
Q: They fumbled it in the end zone and then got a touchdown. Did you get a good look at that?
A: No, I just turned around and saw the pile going on it. I heard we had it and didn’t pile on it. We have to capitalize on an opportunity like that. That was a cheap score. It ended up being the difference in the game.
Q: If Chicago wins then you just have to take care of business next week.
A: Oh yeah, that’s all we’re focusing on. What’s going to happen in that game is going to happen. We have to focus on beating New York, regardless.
Q: It seemed that they had a lot of breaks.
A: We talked about that earlier. They had every break going for them throughout the game, starting with the punt we dropped and then we move up and down on them all day. We get in the red zone and the ball got slick on us. They made the best out of the opportunities that were given to them and like I said, hats off to them. They’re a great team and we gave them four turnovers. To still be in the game in the end is a big push for us.
Cornerback Cedric Griffin
Q: How do you feel the defense played?
A: We didn’t make enough plays out here this game. We created no turnovers. We had a chance to turn it over in the end zone and we didn’t fall on it. We had three or four chances to fall on it but we didn’t. We didn’t make enough plays today and they got the best of us.
Q: Who will you be cheering for tomorrow night?
A: I won’t be cheering for anybody. I’m just hoping for a good game. It’s really in our hands. I’m not really going for anybody.
Q: Can you talk about the Giants coming here next week?
A: It’s a big game to make the playoffs. We have to have a great week of practice, come out prepared and be ready. We can’t come out and play lackadaisical like we did today.
Q: Did you learn anything from today?
A: I’m not going to say I learned anything, but we just have to come out and be more focused, create more turnovers and hold the ball on offense as well.
Linebacker Ben Leber
Q: What did Atlanta do against your defense that was different?
A: They got in hurry up offenses and doing shifts and motions, which we knew they were going to do. They did a good job during the first fifteen and then we settled down and after that I thought we did pretty well.
Q: As the game went on it seemed like you guys did a good job of getting to Matt Ryan?
A: Yeah I think we did a good job calling some blitzes and the crowd did a tremendous job messing them up. We knew the crowd was getting to them, but obviously I wish we could have gotten some turnovers out there.
Cornerback Antoine Winfield
Q: How do you get rid of the bitter taste in your mouth?
A: You have to. If we would have won today, we would be in. We had too many self inflicting wounds, too many turnovers, too many penalties. But we will bounce back. Go back to work next week and get ready for the (New York) Giants.
Q: Do you cheer for the Green Bay Packers tomorrow night?
A: Trust me, every Minnesota Vikings player and every Vikings fan will be watching that game tomorrow. But this game was in our hands. We can’t worry about what they (Chicago Bears) are trying to do. If we take care of our own business; we will get in.
Q: What do you think of Matt Ryan as a player?
A: He is a good player. Their offensive coordinator put him in good positions to make some plays. They were getting really good pressure down the field. They were running tight routes and they had a really good running game today.
Q: How good can this football team be?
A: We can be very good and we expect to be that if we don’t go out there and shoot ourselves in the foot. If we go out their and play the game we can play, I don’t think there is a team in the league that can beat us.
Q: How disappointing is it when you guys get off the field and then the offense puts the ball on the ground?
A: Its tough but we are not going to be pointing any fingers. It is a team effort. We win together and we lose together. It was funny because we were trying to figure out when the last time we lost a game. But we will bounce back against the Giants.
Running Back Adrian Peterson
Q: Disappointing? Frustrating? All of the above?
A: All of the above. It was very disappointing. We did a good job today of going out there and beating ourselves. In a game like this you can’t have four turnovers. We just need to get ready for next week.
Q: You take a lot of pride in your carries. Did the game hurt a lot because of that?
A: Oh yeah, I’m hurting right now inside. It’s killing me. We had the chance today to clinch the NFC North. We did everything we could to not pull out the win today. I’m just very disappointed right now.
Q: Talk about the fumble exchange between you and Jackson.
A: We just didn’t get a clean exchange. It didn’t feel right, so in the end it was just a bad exchange for both of us.
Q: Are you thinking too much about not fumbling? And in return making mistakes because of it?
A: The first thing that goes through my mind when I go out there is to make sure to take care of the ball. The type of running back I am, I find myself out there fighting for yards and that can sometimes put me in a vulnerable position. As a running back you have 11 guys coming after you trying to get the ball away from you. So I have make sure to hold on to the ball tight.
Q: Do you feel as bad as you have all season? What do you do to get over today?
A: We just have to look forward to next week. It’s unfortunate that we could have clinched it with a win today. But you have to think that there are still a lot of teams out there that would love to be in our situation, even with a loss today. So we just have to put it behind us and get ready for New York.
Q: There is a part of you that would rather clinch the division on the field isn’t there?
A: I’ve been saying it for the last couple of weeks. We control our own destiny. It would have been nice to clinch it today. We just couldn’t do it today, we couldn’t control the ball offensively. And you can’t win a game with four turnovers.
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-VIKINGS GAME:
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more from NFL.com
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Metrodome press box
- GAME RECAP: Falcons lock up playoff berth with victory
- FORUMS: Talk about the game with other fans on FalconsLIFE
- GAME BLOG: In-game thoughts on FalconsLIFE from "It's a Mod's Life"
- J. MIKE'S MISSIVES: More thoughts from the AF.com Managing Editor
- VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Quarterback Matt Ryan
- NFL NETWORK: Highlights | Michael Turner | Matt Ryan | Falcons in the Playoffs
- TRANSCRIPTS: Head Coach Mike Smith | Falcons | Vikings
- PHOTOS: Images from the Falcons victory at Minnesota
- INACTIVES: Inactive players and starters from the Falcons-Vikings game
