Falcons – 30, Dolphins – 28
Q. After they go up, you've got two minutes and some change left. What was the mindset of the offense to go out there and attack?
ARTHUR SMITH: The mindset was great. We got the ball, got a chance to go win. Our guys have a big time mindset, and that's what it's about. This team, as we try to improve every week, obviously, you want to stop them, but as an offense, you've got to have the mindset, good, give us the ball. Give us a chance, and we'll go down there and close it out. So that's what it was.
Credit to the O-line. It's good protection. Matt delivered the football, and Kyle made two big time plays. He made some big time plays all day.
Q. And the last one with Xavien Howard in coverage, what made that one stood out? You guys needed it in clutch time.
ARTHUR SMITH: It's two really good players. Howard made a good play on third down. The ball bounced around, and he came down with it. He's a good player. There's good players every Sunday in the NFL. You know that. I know that.
But what it really says is about Kyle Pitts' mindset and the belief that, obviously, Matt Ryan, the quarterback, has in him. He gets better every week. Like I said, those are big time players. Those are two big time players going at it, and Kyle came down with it.
Credit to our guys, but the Dolphins, they fought. Brian Flores is a helluva coach. We knew they'd come down and be ready to go. Josh Boyer is a helluva D coordinator. We knew it was going to be a fight, and glad we're getting out of here with the win.
Q. (No microphone) in the end zone?
ARTHUR SMITH: That was huge. That's being a team, and that's what we've got to be in all three phases. Obviously, we've got to take care of the football.
Credit to them. The ball bounced, and Howard caught it, and he made a play. The defense, the next play go in there, and Grady makes a rush. Foye steps in front of the ball, goes down. We take the ball and we go down and score, and that's how you become a team to play off each other. That was a huge play, huge play in the game.
Q. (No microphone)?
ARTHUR SMITH: Might have been their scheme, but he had the look he wanted, and he took it.
Q. (No microphone)?
ARTHUR SMITH: I know you've got to ask those questions. Again, I'm not trying to be evasive. I won't know until they see the doctor. I don't want to give an answer and create any false narratives. We'll know more tomorrow when they see the doc.
Q. (No microphone)?
ARTHUR SMITH: All they told me was they called upstairs, and they asked to see them. We don't mess around with that. So we got to find a away. T.J. Green goes out there. Right at the end, Fabian had to come out. Guys step up. That's the name of the game in the NFL.
Q. (No microphone)?
ARTHUR SMITH: I haven't seen the doctor. Not going to put words in my mouth. I don't know. Until I get to the doctor, this is how it goes in the game. You're calling the game. Trainer calls upstairs, then he comes down and says he's out. I've got to call the next play. I've got to call the next situation.
I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. That's just how it is. I'm not going to give you a false narrative. I won't know until we talk to the doctor.
Q. (No microphone)?
ARTHUR SMITH: Yeah, that's why we took him in the fourth pick of the draft. There's no secrets there. He's a good player. It's the mindset. We don't get caught up in the day-to-day roller coaster narratives. It's the big picture. All he's done every week is he's gotten better, and he works. He's unselfish. We've got a lot of unselfish guys in the locker room.
Q. The number of explosive plays overall, was that a particular emphasis coming into today, or did it just develop?
ARTHUR SMITH: Again, it depends what they're playing and how you're going through it. They came up and challenged us in a lot of man. If they want to pack it inside and they're going to drop guys in and play and bracket things, they're going to make you go outside. So you'd better win outside, and it's going to be one-on-one.
Thankfully, we're able to do it enough to win today. If they don't do that and play different zones, take us off the read, and someone else is going to win. It's a catch and run game. It's just a chess match going through.
Q. I don't know if comfortable is the right word to use here, but you're down with two minutes to play, and you have Ryan and you Pitts and the offense. How comfortable or confident are you in this situation?
ARTHUR SMITH: Very. That's what this league is. If you don't like that, that's probably not the job for you. You've got to get used to that because that's what most of these games are going to come down to. It's the way the league is structured. It's very competitive. It's the most competitive league in all of professional sports, in my biased opinion.
More times than not, you've got to handle situational football end of half, end of games. I thought we did that. I thought we played off Hawk's interception. We go down and get the field goal. Come out and double them up, get the field goal to end the half, open the half, get the touchdown.
Then at the end of the game, obviously, we want to hold them. We've got to take better care of the football. Credit to them. They knocked the ball out of Matt right there. There's plenty of stuff I tell you guys every Monday. You've got to take a single minded approach and see what we've got to do to get better.
But I thought we handled situational football well. That's what it's going to come down to. You've got to get comfortable in it. It doesn't mean we're not going to feel something. We're all human. That's why we train, and we've got a lot of confidence in our guys.
Q. How did you see Matt process the transition from having the fumble to having to go back out?
ARTHUR SMITH: You've got to have a short memory. It's the same thing as a play caller. I wish I could tell you that I was going to call nothing but perfect plays. You try to call more good plays than bad ones, and you've got to have a reason you're calling them. Not that you're just trying to play Madden here.
So you've got to have the right mindset, and you've got to have some courage, especially at the quarterback position, and he does. He's a special player. I personally think he's criminally underrated if you look at his career here in the National Football League.
Q. Talked a lot about the mindset. I think like particularly with Kyle, there's been so many moments over the course of the last few games where you have gone to him in those big moments and he came up with the big time play. What can you say? Can you talk more about what you mean in his mindset in those moments?
ARTHUR SMITH: It's a credit to everything. I think what a lot of misnomers in football is a guy gets here and one person wants to jump in front of a parade. Like we have a really good football staff, and that goes back to our scouts that go on the road. They don't get enough credit. They're kind of behind the scenes. You got to come as a staff and do a ton of work. Terry and his staff and the coaches, and you've got to have the right people where you don't have the egos. You try to see what's best for our football team.
Then going through that process, and we do, we've got good scouts, especially in the southeast. And we all came and watched him, and you go through an interview and you do the background, and he's rare. He just turned 21. That's huge because, when you put a fourth pick on somebody, there's a lot of expectations, and I've seen some guys not be able to handle it, but fortunately Kyle has. He's exactly who we thought he was. He's got to continue to improve. We all do.
I don't think enough credit goes around. I think a lot of people try to get in front of the parade. We've got a really good football staff, and it's really collaborative. Credit to a lot of people and ultimately the player.
Q. This offensive line protecting Matt over the last few weeks, what can you kind of say about their evolution as a unit?
ARTHUR SMITH: They've got a lot of confidence. Again, Coach Dwayne Ledford, Chandler Henley, they do a helluva job. Again, you guys didn't even notice Jason Spriggs was out there. Spriggs is a pro, goes out there, grinds through it. That's what happens in the NFL. You have 17 games, guys are going to step up. It goes back to the whole football staff, guys getting in there.
Those are undervalued moves we make in training camp. Here we are, week 7, our sixth game of the year, and we need a new play, and he played well.
Q. Preface this with facetiously, but 110 games against 500. How important is it that you have a few wins in the bank?
ARTHUR SMITH: It's big. You've got to see -- use that business analogy. We felt our foundation was strong. We knew there was things we have to clean up. You can't lose perspective. We haven't turned the profit yet. Right now go on our earnings report right there. We need to turn the profit hopefully next week. That's the name of the game. You want to build -- clearly you need to win so these guys understand. That's where the buy in is huge. We're doing something different. Are we getting any return on anything?
These guys have worked so damn hard. They've bought in. It's good to see, and it's big for those guys.
Q. Following up exactly what you were just talking about, how big of a building block can this kind of win be last second on the road?
ARTHUR SMITH: That's what I can't say -- I mean, Koo. My heart rate felt pretty normal like it did if I was calling a play in the second quarter because he's been clutch. He did it in New York, and he did it again today on the road. That's the whole operation. Josh Harris is a pro's pro, I mean, everybody. Good situational football.
Q. (No microphone)?
ARTHUR SMITH: It's the toughest position to play in all of pro sports. It's the most overanalyzed. That's what makes this game fun. That's why they get paid a lot of money. I think it's probably the most misunderstood position too.
For a guy to do it and have the production he's had year over year consistently and then come in here and lead this football team and to lead by example, you can coach Matt Ryan, and the great players that I've been around -- obviously, he's got confidence, but he's going to lead this football team in a way to lead from the front. He's going to come to work every day and work hard.
There's just not many guys who have had the production he's done for a long time. In any industry, somebody that sustains success, those are the people I look at. I've been pleased, and I feel fortunate to work with Matt.
Q. (No microphone)?
ARTHUR SMITH: I knew him from afar, but until you get to know somebody, there's a lot of preconceived notions maybe or whatever. That relationship is still building, but he's been awesome.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports