Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn disappointed in turnovers against Colts
Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn is disappointed with his team’s turnovers and poor finish in Sunday’s 24-21 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
A red hot start has been cooling the past month, and after throwing away victory at home to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons have reached ice cold status. Head coach Dan Quinn spoke after the game about the team’s poor finish.
“The finish is such an important part of our message and our program,” Quinn said. “To have the lead and not be able to answer, that’s when it’s hard.”
But it wasn’t just the finish, it was the turnovers. Matt Ryan was picked off three times, and the Falcons offense was unable to put any points on the board after all three takeaways on defense.
“Our philosophy is about the football, and I thought defensively forcing some of those todays was a significant improvement in the way we want to go attack it. We didn’t get any points off those turnovers today; I think that was a real factor in it.”
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The Falcons have now lost four of their past five games, and this one was even more disappointing as it came fresh off the bye week.
“When we went through the bye, I thought we came back and had a good week of practice, and thought that would enable us to play well. There’s a lot of things we did do well.”
After such a poor run, how can the Falcons rebound?
“We’ve got a really tight group, we’ve got a close locker room. We know we’ll work like crazy to find the best matchups and the best ways for the guys to be at their best.”
Part of the problem against Indianapolis was the inability to run the football after Devonta Freeman exited the game with a concussion. Freeman had 43 yards on his three carries before getting hit hard in the helmet. Rookie Tevin Coleman and Terron Ward added just 50 yards on the ground following Freeman’s departure.
“[Devonta Freeman] was diagnosed with a concussion and he will go through the protocol this week. For sure it was a factor because of the player that he is, but it didn’t change the game plan.”
Freeman’s availability to play Minnesota next week is unknown. If he’s unable to go, Coleman and Ward will rotate in the backfield.
Atlanta (6-4) hosts Minnesota (7-3) inside the Georgia Dome on Sunday.