Head Coach Mike Smith
Opening Statement:
"First, let me say I'm disappointed, our whole football team is disappointed, in the outcome of the day today, but we're not discouraged. I'm proud of the way these guys fought today. We just didn't get it done. They made the plays when they had to. It's tough to win when you're minus on the turnover ratio. The three turnovers I thought were very, very big. I really thought the guys fought extremely well and hard and they showed their resiliency there. It's tough to have a chance there at the end to get a stop and we weren't able to get a stop. That's tough. My hat's off to Coach (Ken) Whisenhunt. I congratulate his football team. They played very passionate, hard-nosed football and I thought it was a hard-nosed game. We'll go into this off season with some issues we've got to address. This is all part of the process. It's just another step in the process. We're going to remember how we feel as a football team because we plan on being back in this situation and we want to remember how this feels."
On the play of the Cardinals:
"They did a nice job getting off blocks. They loaded the box and they did a very good job controlling the line of scrimmage. They controlled the line of scrimmage today and they did a very nice job. Coach (Clancy) Pendergast and his staff and his guys went out and executed the plan."
On Antrel Rolle's interception and touchdown:
"I think the ball got punched out. They split in the front and the guy jumped the block and was in the backfield. He was very disruptive. It wasn't a clean play for us and the ball popped up. That is a big, big play in a football game. We had come out and taken the lead right before halftime and had an opportunity to have posession of the football for the first series in the second half."
On the Cardinals' ability to run the ball:
"We felt like they were going to come in and run the football because they do have some very talented runners. Edgerrin James is one of the top runners in the league and (Tim) Hightower's had a very good rookie season. In the playoffs, you got to be able to run the football. I really believe that. They did a nice job. Kurt (Warner) did a really good job executing their offense and their offensive gameplan."
On the momentum switch during the game:
"I think we got (the momentum) back on that last scoring drive. We handled the surge well in the first quarter. I think in the second quarter the momentum switched back to us. That big play in the third quarter, the second play of the second half, kind of got us out of whack for awhile. We were able to come back and get a scoring drive late in the ballgame. Then, of course, we weren't able to get a stop. I think that's really the story of the game."
On the play of Matt Ryan:
"I think Matt (Ryan) would like to have some throws back, but it's a new experience for him. It's a new experience for our entire football team. I really would have to watch the tape to give a more qualified answer, but I'm pleased with the way he ran the no huddle. I think the no huddle was the thing that changed the momentum there in the second half. He's done an outstanding job running our no huddle offense all season long."
On if the long season impacted Matt Ryan's play:
"It's a long season for everybody. This was our 21st football game. I didn't really see it. Or course, I'm seeing that every game. I think you have to look at his body of work the entire season. I don't know if you can really break it down and evaluate here what he's done of late. I think you've got to take a look at what we've done throughout the entire season. Not just Matt, it's the entire football team."
On off-season free agency:
"We're not ready to talk about that. Every football team in the National Football League has a lot of things to address in the off season and that's the great thing about this league. We're not only going to have to address personnel, but we have to address sceme things. We'll start here very shortly as a coaching staff, evaluatiing everything that we've done. (We'll evaluate) the way we practice, they way we install and I think it's very, very important that there will be personnel issues. There's always things that we've got to fix. We had a great draft class this past season and I think that's very, very important that we start turning our attention as quickly as possible to the draft class. The staff is ready to get that part of the season rolling."
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-CARDINALS GAME:
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more in the NFL.com Game Center
- GAME BLOG: Review updates from the press box in the playoff game blog
- GAME NOTES: Track some of the milestones from the playoff game
- GAME STORY: Playoff loss in Arizona ends Falcon season
- GAMEDAY LIVE: Complete Falcons-Cardinals game coverage from AF.com
- J. MIKE'S MISSIVES: More news and comment from the AF.com Managing Editor
- VIDEO: Head Coach Mike Smith | Matt Ryan
- NFL NETWORK: Game Highlights | Matt Ryan Highlights | Michael Turner Highlights
- TRANSCRIPTS: Head Coach Mike Smith | Falcons | Cardinals
- INACTIVES: Inactives and starters from the Falcons-Cardinals game
- FORUMS: Talk about the game with other fans on FalconsLIFE
- PHOTOS: Images from the Falcons playoff game at University of Phoenix Stadium
