Falcons 29, Colts 10
Q. Could you take us through the game and a couple touchdowns, five field goals for the offense today?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Yeah, I thought we played a pretty clean game. That's what we were trying to do. Obviously the story of the season so far has been turnovers and self-inflicted wounds, and that was kind of our message this week, hey, let's not beat ourselves, let's make them go beat us. I thought we played a really clean game, tried to get the ball out of my hands quick, let those playmakers do their thing. Obviously you want to punch it in a little bit more when you get down there, but a win is a win, so we're happy with it.
Q. The opening drive you got a big run by Bijan and then the touchdown pass to Kyle. What did you see on that play?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Yeah, obviously Bijan having a big run, that's awesome, getting a lot of juice going, and then the play was -- we had a curl and a little corner behind it, and I saw the kind of corner take that curl/out, and I saw a big area for Kyle in the end zone, so kind of just laid it out in the area, let him go get it.
But that's how we want to start. We want to come out and start fast, put some points on the board and go from there.
From start to finish, I thought we played really well.
Q. Complementary football-wise, how big was it to get that field goal right before the half and then come out, get the fumble recovered and then go on a touchdown drive there?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Yeah, it's huge. Again, Art talked about the middle eight all the time. You can win and lose games that middle eight right there at halftime. Again, going down there, getting those three points and then coming back in the second half and scoring a touchdown, it's huge for us. That's a 10-point swing.
It helps all phases of the game. Obviously I fumbled that first snap, wasn't a good feeling, but we rallied and got through it.
Q. The block, I think the play was shortly after that where you got a block for Bijan on that play and kind of got the sidelines going over there --
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Yeah, I didn't really anticipate blocking today (laughter), but I handed the ball off and kind of carried out my fake and saw he was reversing field. I've said this before, every time I go out there, I kind of play like it's my last play, like it's my last game. Playing in the NFL is a very special opportunity, and when you get your number called, it's special.
When I go out there, I leave it all out on the field, and so it happened to be a corner right there. I hope it looked better than it felt. I haven't seen it yet, but anything to get the guys going. A lot of juice. That was cool.
Q. At this point in the season with y'all's record coming in, this team felt like it might be getting a little tight coming down the stretch. You made a point of saying you're not going to play that way anymore in your career, regardless of the scenario. Do you think that that helped this offense a little bit, that sort of -- we're just going to go wing it and see what happens?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Maybe. Again, I wouldn't say wing it. I know what you're trying to say. But there's a certain feeling you get when you just have that freedom, when you kind of just in your head say, hey, man, what's the worst that can happen. A loss? But if you're going to lose, why do it uptight. Just go out there and leave it all out on the field. Again, there's not a play where you want to look back and be like, I wish I did this or that. Just go out there and play. See what you see. React. This game is supposed to be fun. That's why we started playing it. I think the guys had some juice coming out there today, and we played a good game.
Q. I didn't do my research yet; have you ever started a game on Christmas Eve before, and how did it feel knowing that Christmas is tomorrow and you guys got a win?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Ooh, yeah. The last two years I started on Christmas Eve and they've been awful. Two years ago we went to Dallas and got beat by like 40. Last year we went to San Fran and I got benched. Maybe third time is a charm.
No, this is great. We can enjoy our holidays with the win, with the up-and-down season we've had. This is really special. Everyone is excited.
Q. Was there anything for you that felt different from the games against the Vikings and Cardinals that you started versus today?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: No, no. I just think all three phases showed up today. We played really good complementary football. We were never really backed up other than that one -- I think it was our second drive, and we got out of it. Obviously we didn't go down and score or anything, but we got I think to like the 30-yard line and punted it and put them inside the 20, which is huge. That's things that we don't talk about. That's just huge, complementary football.
The defense did a great job, special teams did a good job, and then offense, we kept moving the ball. It was a true team game today.
Q. Do you get specialty Jordans today?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Yeah, I'll be posting some Jordans on Instagram later tonight. I'll pick which ones I want. But I've got to keep the tradition alive.
Q. Was there something that you sensed that was maybe different for you today than the first two starts you had here?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: You said something that Art said to me --
Q. No, was there something that you sensed was different today versus the first two starts that you played here for yourself?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: No. I felt like I had the same mindset going into those other two games. Go out there, have fun, play with passion. When you do that, I think that's when you play your best.
Q. There are various oddsmakers or whatever -- the New York Times said last week's loss dropped the Falcons' playoff chances to 8 percent. Now you might be in a three-way tie depending on what happens with the last game today. Do you pay attention to that kind of thing, and what has it been like for you guys in the locker room going through this crazy season in this division?
TAYLOR HEINICKE: Well, the cool thing about this locker room is if we were 12-4 or 4-12, I don't think it would change a thing. The guys in there love playing ball. We approach work every day the same. Go out there, we work hard and care about each other.
I would also be lying to you if I told you we don't pay attention to it. Obviously we do.
But again, it's something that you kind of keep in the back of your head, but you just go out there and play. You can't pay too much attention to it. At the end of the day, if you go out there and win, everything else will take care of itself.
Our main focus is just doing our job and getting a win. I don't know if I can say this out loud, but obviously we're rooting for the Jags. Hopefully they get the job done, and we'll go from there. But we're just excited about this win, get back on Tuesday and get ready for Chicago.
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