Falcons, 43 - Raiders, 6
Q. Congratulations on the win, Coach. I don't know who you handed out game balls to, but defensively Tuioti seemed like he was everywhere. What did you say to the guys afterwards and what about the his performance and the strip sack and everything you saw out of him today?
RAHEEM MORRIS: I really kept it from the individual accolades and I talked about the team win and talked about the guys come out and doing what they're capable of doing and finishing the game like that.
I think these guys need a little bit of what you would call a push in the head to let them know this is how a game should end when you got control.
And today to go out and be able to do those things I thought was really good for us, good for our team, and good for the organization, and definitely good for our city.
Q. We haven't heard his name called that often, but Jacob did have a great game. Were you impressed with what you saw from the sidelines from him?
RAHEEM MORRIS: Jacob was all over the place. He caused a couple fumbles, got a couple fumbles. Man, it felt like he everywhere. He played special teams, he makes tackles for us. I can't say enough good things about what Jacob was able to do for us just because of where he's come from and the man it. He was mic'd up today, he was wired up. Might mic him up every week now if he plays like that.
Be he was certainly fired up and certainly played well for his team, and we're fired up for him.
Q. Another man who took advantage of his opportunities was the Ito Smith. That spark he provided late in the game and the ability for him to close out and come through when needed.
RAHEEM MORRIS: We were really talking about focusing on running the ball versus two-high defenses, and Ito got in there in the second half and really sparked us.
Broke up a couple big runs, gave us a couple explosives. You need those things when that happens. That opens up your pass game and that helps even things out to make you less one dimensional, to give us an opportunity to dictate the terms of game, which we were able to do this week.
Q. I know you will tell me you think everybody can play better, but the defense, five turnovers, five sacks, holding them out of the end zone. What can you say about the job they did today?
RAHEEM MORRIS: You know stats are for loser, but when you get those things that work in your favor, you go out there and you get those guys to believe in themselves and believe in what they can do, those things always work out in the right favor and always in the right way for you.
Today that's what happened for us.
Q. One stat that stood out that we talked about this week was the Raiders rushing game, seventh in the NFL. What did you did negate them today?
RAHEEM MORRIS: You know, our guys did a really good job. We got some big bodies in there that are able to use their hands and shed blocks and come off and make tackles. That runningback, Jacobs, is very tough to tackle. We were able to get there in bunches, bunch of people in the spot to make sure we can assure that we get him on the ground.
He is going to run through arm tackles. We were not able to do that. We were putting our chest on him. It was a physical fought game, another AFC win. It was awesome.
Q. What was the key to creating those five turnovers? Was it pressure? A lot of guys doing their jobs individually?
RAHEEM MORRIS: I just thought it was the guys' ball mindset. You know, they really had a ball mindset today to go after it and really had ball mindset. Every time they had an opportunity to get it, they got the ball out. The hustle, the turn and run, all those things just kicked into play.
And usually when that happens and technique and opportunity meet, you get the ball.
Q. Anything you can share on James Carpenter? Bunch of guys banged up today. Ridley, Younghoe Koo, and obviously again Carpenter.
RAHEEM MORRIS: We got a bunch of guys on this team that's warriors, man, and Carp played through an injury, and we'll have to see where he is and see how bad it is and where he can go.
Obviously Rid was able to bounce in and out of the game, so we'll see where he goes when we get a little bit more feedback from our trainers tomorrow in the next day.
Q. We talked all this week about the way Darren Waller has been just a problem, and issue you had to deal with. How were you able to neutralize him today?
RAHEEM MORRIS: You know, (indiscernible) in the man to man opportunities was able to cover a man to man, he stepped up in a big way. We were able to confuse the coverage a little bit and put a little bit on Carr to make him have to sort his way through some of those things.
He's a really good football player, and you can't just take him out with one guy, with one thing. You've got to be able to mix it up and take away that offense. They have a really good offense.
Q. Tape don't lie, Coach. You know you were eager were to show the guys in New Orleans video coming into this week. Easier to get your message coming off a performance like that, and then how do you get the guys to buy-in knowing the tape this week will be better than last?
RAHEEM MORRIS: I don't ever want to say it's easier to give a message. Sometimes those tough battles are fought through difficulty, and that game last week was some difficulty for us. Was able to show them and give them the truth, and when you're able to give guys the truth of what happened and your version of the truth and let them sit on it and take it and come out to play, I think that's what they did this week and took it into this game, and I think that really helped us this week.
Q. Julio obviously a no-go for you, but five receivers caught passes in the absence of Julio Jones. What can you say about the receiving corps?
RAHEEM MORRIS: You know, whenever you're missing Julio, as great a player as he is, you got to a have people step up. We got guys that are very capable of doing it. Wee seen Blake today, we seen Powell step up, we seen Ridley step up. (Indiscernible) was getting off rolling until he got injured.
Those guys have just been stepping up all year whenever they've been called upon, and it's been really nice to see.
Q. Back to Ito where you called upon his number again, gave you the ceiling, first downs in scores. Is he putting himself in more of a conversation to earn more and more playing time?
RAHEEM MORRIS: You know, any time you play that way you have to say yes. Ito went out there today and played really well for us. It's not his first time playing well for us. He's played well for us in the past, and we shouldn't be shocked. He has the ability to do that. That's what he does, and we should be looking for more of that from Ito.
Q. What does id mean to you, Coach, I know you don't talk about yourself often at all rather, but to beat your mentor in Gruden and what did coach say to you after the game?
RAHEEM MORRIS: Any chance to go 1-0 mentality against anybody is always special, but when you go up a guy that's humbled and to congratulate you at the half field mark and tell you congratulations and you did a good job today, that means a lot when it comes from the guy that you most respect in this business.
Q. Coach, we appreciate your time. See you next week.
RAHEEM MORRIS: Thank you, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports