Atlanta Falcons Media Conference

Sunday, October 2, 2022

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Marcus Mariota

Postgame Press Conference


Atlanta - 23, Cleveland - 20

Q. Marcus, I asked Coach this question, so I'm going to pose it to you as well. You got two back-to-back wins basically the same way, a sack and a pick to close out. How important or how confident is it for you, as well as for this team, just to know that your defense, when charged to close out a game can close it out in that fashion?

MARCUS MARIOTA: It's awesome to see really. Our defense has continued to make big plays in pivotal moments. We as an offense, that excites us because we understand that, if we can get down there and take a lead in the fourth quarter, our guys have the opportunity to close it out.

But credit to our defense. They kept us in it really and gave us an opportunity at the end to win.

Q. You also had a game where you had 11 first downs on the ground. So this was that game where maybe the Browns didn't allow the passing game to really take off, but whether it was Allgeier, whether it was C.P., you really had the ground game going. Again, how important is it for you guys to have that versatility on offense?

MARCUS MARIOTA: It starts up front. You've got to give credit to our O-line. They did an unbelievable job, unbelievable job. For us as an offense, sometimes you've got to be patient. You're not going to make plays down the passing game, and we understood that.

If they're covering some of our play action passes, some of our intermediate game, we had opportunities to run the football. We leaned on our guys up front. Our backfield was unbelievable. Young guys coming in and stepping up and making big plays.

That's what it takes. I don't really care as long as we win games.

Q. Congratulations, Marcus, on the win. Talk about just your biggest take-aways from tonight's win.

MARCUS MARIOTA: Again, I just thought it was a complete team win. Offense made plays when we needed to. Defense made plays when we needed to. Special teams. They came up big too.

To be able to play all three phases that way is huge for us. I think it's building a great foundation for the rest of the season.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
125398-1-1182 2022-10-02 21:11:00 GMT

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