Here’s what Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had to say after arguable the worst game of his NFL career in a loss to the Ravens Sunday:
On the loss: "It was a disappointing day for us. Offensively, we were never able to kind of get into any drives, really, other than the first and the touchdown drive that we had. Disappointing. Credit to them, you know, they came out, they had a good plan for us, and they executed the plan a lot better than we did."
On not getting the run game going: "It's disappointing. We knew it was going to be tough sledding. I think statistically they're ranked first in pretty much every category that counts. They're a very good defense with a scheme that is relentless and they're very attacking. It was a point of emphasis for us to get the run game going. We didn't do a good enough job. We didn't execute as well as we needed to. We had some opportunities that were closer than they might have looked. Consistently when you're not making first downs and moving the chains, it's hard to get that going, too."
On the disconnect in the shots he took to Julio Jones:
"We didn't, and against a defense like that you've got to connect on them because it's tough to string together 10, 12, 14-play drives against a defense of that caliber. So when you can create explosive plays it gives you a much better chance of scoring, and we weren't able to connect on them, and that made it even more difficult to overcome."
On the adjustments the Ravens defense made after the first drive: "I think they continued to pressure throughout the day, and they did a nice job with it. We knew they were going to do it, coming into the game, and we had a plan for it. We did not execute our plan the way that we needed to. At the end of the day, it's really as simple as that. We needed to do a better job than we did. We knew how the game was going to go, and it's disappointing when you put that work in and it doesn't come to fruition during the game."
On getting the spirit back up for the Green Bay game:
"Yeah, we've got to get back to work. We've got to find a good way to win. As far as staying together, I think we have a good group of men in our locker room, coaching staff, and front office that are willing to work. We need to do our jobs better than we've done up until this point, but the only way I know to do that is to get back to work and get back out on to the practice field and have a mindset on individually improving so we're better collectively."
On the effort of the team: "I think the effort has been good. We need to play well. At the end of the day, I think that's the most important thing is to play well, and we haven't done that."
On his executions after not getting first downs: "I think it comes down to executing the game plan at the highest level. You have to stay aggressive. You've got to take your chances. We've got to make the plays when we get our chances and that's what it boils down to. I thought we had the right mindset, the right plan to go against these guys. We were aggressive, but we didn't play well. At the end of the day in this league, when you're playing a really good football team with a really good defense, you've got to put up points."
On the difference in execution from the beginning of the year: "Yeah, obviously you have an expectation that you're going to come out and be successful every week, and that hasn't been the case the last couple of weeks. There's been different reasons for it every week. I think today is the most disappointing because we never really got anything going. That makes it tough. When you're not moving it, and you're letting them kind of dictate the game, that's a tough pill to swallow."
On a play that he would've taken back if he could've: "We had a wheel route to Tevin (Coleman) early in the game and were just missing by a yard. I would love to have that one back, throw it a yard or two shorter and let him take it to the house. You never know if momentum changes from than point."
On the issues with short-yardage opportunities: "I have to look at the ones specifically today to give you a better answer on that, but at the end of the day, in those situations, it comes down to execution. You've got to do your job. We've got to all do our job collectively better than the opponent we're going against, and that hasn't been the case the last couple of times we've had those opportunities."
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