 What's up everybody and welcome to another edition of the Falcons final whistle podcast coming to you right after the Atlanta Falcons secured at 27 to 20 victory over the New York Jets. It was dramatic there at the end as the Falcons are known to do. And it was interesting in the way that they were able to close this one out. Tori McElaney Atlanta Falcons.com be reporter and analyst. What was your main takeaway from the second Falcons victory of this 2021 season? Well Scott I think it was actually what you wrote about post game was my biggest takeaway was that when you look at what the Falcons did last week against Washington comparing it to what they did this week against the Jets they actually did close it out. There was a really solid finish offensively that really put this game away that they didn't have against Washington and needed against Washington. So that to me was was one of the biggest moments of the game and I think it meant the most to kind of where this team is now going into the and then and then Chris Ramar long form features reporter you spent a lot of time with Kyle Pitts and really got to know him as the person. This game was I don't know if it's a breakout game for him but it was a big one. Nonetheless what was your main takeaway from what the number four overall pick was able to get done and his impact on this game and on this team and in the victory. I think my main takeaway was you know when good players get the ball you know you know great things happen you guys most targets this year and you know I thought the Jets would have done some different things in terms of because Calvin and Russell were out I thought they would have maybe try double team and more in the way the Jets try to take away Calvin in that game I thought they would try to do that with Kyle but you know he was one on one in the end zone with the defensive lineman and then on the I think the 40 yard catchy kind of just ran down the seam in the middle of the field so so I thought it was it was pretty easy for him today and another takeaway for me that I wanted to mention too earlier was look at what happens when Matt Ryan you know it's protected is when when he's not when Matt Ryan is not being pressured he's he's still a great quarterback he still he shows you you know why he won that MVP and I think today was a prime example of who Matt Ryan is. And we're going to talk about all that and more on the Falcons final whistle podcast as we do every single episode breaking these breaking this thing down I can say that right over the course of four quarters. Starting with Kyle pits big day, we are going to go into detail about that final and decisive offensive drive. We're also going to ask about some unsung heroes some MVP is not named Ryan pits or Patterson, and we are going to talk about that feel good feeling heading into the bye weekend how important this win was for the psyche of this team or we are going to address all that and more here on the final Falcons final whistle podcast which is brought to you by Microsoft 11 the official operating system of the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons. The all new windows 11 is here to bring you closer to what you love, like you know the Falcons final whistle podcast to learn about all the awesome new features of windows 11 at windows.com and when we come back, we're going to bang the sound effect and get started with the first quarter. We're getting started here on the first quarter of the Falcons final whistle podcast we're going to have five minutes to break down. Number four overall pick Kyle pits is day where he had nine receptions for 119 yards, a touchdown that huge 39 yard catch serve that really jumped started the final and decisive offensive drive, and he did all that on 10 targets. He was dominant and effective early, and it was really impressive to see everything that he was able to do Chris you've already kind of talked about Kyle pits a little bit but could you sense early on that maybe a special game was in the making here was it something that that you could kind of pick out, even on that first drive or in the first quarter. Yeah, I think they're kind of two sides to it coming in because you think, okay, number one and number two wide receivers are out cost should automatically have a big game, but also, they're going to take Kyle out of the game. So, you know, my friends asking me should I start Kyle and fantasy or set a third and I was kind of torn because, like I said, you don't know if they're going to really focus on taking him out the game, or if he is going to have that big game like like we saw today and obviously it was the earlier. Like I said earlier, I think, I think what we thought the jets were going to do in terms of focusing focusing on him or double teaming him or even having you know someone low and high on him, it wasn't there today. And I thought, you know he got more targets and he's got all season and they were also, you know, a lot more open. So yeah, his performance was was not I wouldn't say it was it was expected but you know I thought it could go one or two extremes and and it went the good the good one for him. And maybe a note to the jets is when you're close to the goal line don't cover him with the defensive linemen. I mean just a thought. That seemed like a mismatch that they were taking advantage of Tori let's jump to the end here that that fourth quarter catch the 39 yarder I believe. What did that do to the final drive given how much was at stake there. Matt Ryan talked a lot about finding a good look and it being a good play call from Arthur Smith but what was your immediate reaction to it and what do you think that that particular play meant in the grand scheme. Matt Ryan said it best when he called it the jumpstart that the Falcons offense needed in that moment because I think when you look back to last game against Washington it was a jumpstart that they didn't have. They didn't have that moment where it was like where it really got the offense going and you always hear Matt Ryan especially talk about getting that first first down and sometimes how difficult that is that once you get on a roll it's easier for first down to come by first downs and so I think the fact that they were able to go out and you know Matt Ryan said kudos to Arthur Smith for the play call and then also for Kyle pits on the execution side of it but to be able to go and do that on first down and pick up. I mean really almost like flip the field to go down on the other side of midfield was really really something that I thought the Falcons needed and I think it was. I don't want to say it's the reason that they got in the end zone but it makes things a lot easier when you can get 39 yards on on your first shot down field to Kyle pits in that moment so that's kind of what I thought of that specific moment it was a moment that I look at as being one of the key moments of the game. And Tori you wrote extensively about Kyle pits in your postgame Tori's takeaways column. Give fans a preview of what you were saying there that maybe this is the beginning of the of the Kyle pits era. Yeah so I think there were so many questions coming into this game about exactly what the Falcons pass game was going to look like without Calvin Ridley without Wrestle Gage and going off of what Chris was saying you know we didn't know how the Jets were really going to play Kyle pits and so the fact that we're sitting there kind of watching Kyle pits pick this secondary apart with it was very. I wrote this and I really meant it like as I'm sitting there watching Kyle pits do what he did today. I really felt like this is a game that we will one day maybe look back on and be like that's the example of what Kyle pits can really be in this league. And I think what he can do in this offense and why you go out and get him at number four was so he can have games like today and I think that was what I really hung on to the most when I was going through this. My postgame takeaways was really looking at like, this is the performance that you've been waiting for from Kyle pits since the moment that his name was called on on the first day of the draft. This is what you've been wanting this type of production and so that's really what I kind of dove into postgame and I think if your Falcons fans are really excited that you finally got to see this from Kyle pits. Yeah, he's just such a dominant player and even on this touchdown going through with the Christian timeline as we speak and I quote was the sun was in my eyes I didn't even think I was going to catch it. He still caught it he still found a way that despite the Falcons being without so many past catchers that they were able to that he was able to get the job done create separation and make huge plays for this team. I do agree with you Tory I think this this could be a real landmark game for him. And I think it's going to be interesting to see how he and the Falcons continue to use his skill set moving forward and take advantage of his physical gifts, and that'll bring us to the end of the first quarter. Let's get started on the second quarter talking about that final and pivotal offensive drive where with the Atlanta Falcons really secured this victory and it looked very similar to what happened last week because the Falcons League got cut down to a critical level, and then they had an offensive series and against Washington, they went run run screen and went nowhere they punted Washington came back and eventually won that game this drive went markedly different. The Atlanta Falcons went 75 yards on nine plays over the course of four minutes and 36 seconds to really reassert themselves and do what good offenses do is that they are closers. They can finish games by playing keep away everything that you want to happen from an offense perspective late in the game when you have a lead the Falcons were able to do. I don't get to worry about that Kyle Pitts play, but maybe just generally speaking. What did you think of Arthur Smith's role in this particular offensive drive and how the Falcons were able to execute it. Yeah, I think something that I really hung on to post game was when Arthur Smith and I'm going to read the quote because I thought it was really good. He was asked about, you know that final drive and he said we're not going to sit here and play with our fears I was pissed at myself from last week the worst thing I'll probably make plenty of mistakes, but I'll try not to make the same mistake twice. We're not going to live in our fears will be aggressive when we need to be in and we had good blocking up front and I think that quote where he's talking about not living in your fears and not making the same mistakes twice was really impactful. I was looking at that final drive and being able to be like, okay, like we're talking about a first year head coach that's learning as he goes along to, and it wasn't a situation where, you know, people I think criticized him a lot last week where they were talking how he was too conservative in that moment that we were talking about in the fourth quarter against Washington, tossing the ball up to Kyle Pitts for 39 yard gain is not conservative and I think. Like I think that's where he's talking about like we're not going to just kind of sit back and make the same mistake again that we made last week and so for his role in this I think it and Matt Ryan was very complimentary of him and it was like it was a good play call it was him seeing where the safeties were and seeing that he could kind of go over the top of them. So when I'm thinking about Arthur Smith's role in this that's what I kind of cling to and I thought that quote was really really telling to kind of how Arthur Smith took the Washington loss and re evaluated what he was doing to kind of jump start this offense in the fourth quarter against the jets and it paid off. I think that I think when we talk about his role that that's really all you can ask for especially in a first year coach to see in real time, him learning from a mistake that he admitted that that he made last week I don't think everyone thought it was a mistake I guess he evaluated after and viewed his decision making last week as a mistake and could have been, you know, more aggressive and you're seeing in real time this week in the same situation Arthur Smith, you know has a much different play call much more aggressive play call and it works, and then he admits, you know post game that you know this this was a decision I made based off what I learned and I think it's good for your first year coach to be, you know, candid and honest in that way. It's good for fans to see that you know he's evolving to like Tory said, yeah and it's that's kind of a defining characteristic of this early part of the season is their willingness to be accountable and critical and learn and try to progress in big and big days. In who knows that this team may lose more than it wins, right, but are, are they willing to progress are they willing to challenge themselves are they willing to do different everything that we're talking about Arthur Smith I think that we can apply to the veteran leadership here, and that they, they just keep finding little ways to get a little bit better, but on the road to progress stumble and you fall right and you get scabs and things like that those things happen, but are you going to get. Are you going to keep walking. And I think that that's what this team does a good job of to this point, even if they're consistently inconsistent and maybe maddening to fans, and I think that when you look at it right as we have 30 seconds left here is that now we have three close contests to they performed well in the clutch one they did. Are we still learning about this team and do we need more evidence to see if they're good finishers or not. Yeah, I mean I think so I think I think you still still need more evidence, especially, I think, again, the teams that they finish that they finished against or the Giants are playing now they're one and three the Jets are now one and four. I think seeing them maybe finished against a team with a better record or you know more accomplished team I think then we would learn more about their finishing, you know aspect. And we're going to move right along to the to the third quarter right here, where we're going to talk about some unsung heroes from this victory. And we're on to quarter number three where we're going to talk about some unsung heroes some MVP's from the Falcons victory but I'm going to set some guidelines. Number two you can't pick how pits number three you can't pick Mr Patterson. So if we take away all the easy and obvious ones here. Now we're going to have to put on our thinking caps and thank goodness for the pause button because it did actually give us a chance to evaluate where we wanted to go with this one. So Tori you're up first, I guess you could technically steal anybody's because you have the floor. Who is your unsung hero your, your underrated MVP from this one. I really liked the progress that I saw from this offensive line. I think that after week one week to where it's been really tough to kind of find good things to say about this offensive line. I feel like we're to the point now where they have put together two really good performances against Washington and then also against the jets today. I was very, I mean they didn't give up a sack against this jets defensive front that we heard so much about coming in and Arthur Smith I mean y'all know like we sit and we talked to Arthur Smith quite a bit throughout the week. He's not really one to give compliments where like a compliment isn't due. And so the fact that he was talking a lot about this jets defensive line and their coordinated rush attacks and how, how good they were and I really like hung on to that and I thought this offensive line did very very well, not giving up a sack but also getting a good push up front to run the ball I thought Mike Davis looked at it looked as good as we've seen him look and it was because they were getting him to that second level and on a few runs and all that to say that the offensive line. It's not sexy to talk about the offensive line and people don't like talking about offensive line play but I did think that they played fairly well today. I think that's a huge step in the right direction for this unit as a whole because as Chris brought up earlier, what an absolute shock Matt Ryan's pretty good quarterback when he has time to throw. The man's on a bit of a roll but we're not talking about him right now Scott don't go into that digress. I'm now talking to myself not you guys, literally, but Chris, who first came to mind when you thought about unsung heroes here. Yeah, for me with it was Jaylen Hawkins and that I kind of wrote about him. He was featured in my story for land of focus dot com while the defense stepping up as a whole, because DMPs earlier in the week he he always is pretty animated in his years but this week he was it in he was in the NBA he was a he was a rebounder at the podium he was Clint Capella or something he was motion in his hands he was showing the media members how to how to rebound not wasn't there but watched the he he he's rebound showing him how to rebound he's comparing this to the defensive backs because the last week in Washington he said that the DBS weren't aggressive enough to the ball and we saw that specifically with a touchdown from Terry McLaurin where the ball floated in the air for what seemed like forever and the DBS didn't attack it and Jaylen Hawkins today and Keelan Cole was running like come back route he read the route and just launched his entire body like a rebounder to get the ball. You know he wasn't vertical he's horizontal so maybe not like a rebounder, but any any got the interception and did exactly what you know DMPs talked about during the week. So he was my MVP in terms of you know getting his first start, getting his first career interception and just playing well I think I think the whole secondary play well you know being marred by injury but he stood out to me because of that interception but there are also guys who are making plays to Yeah and when I look at this group of tight ends as a whole right that we all expected Kyle Pitts to be a featured player and Hayden Hurst to be a featured player without Russell Gage without Calvin Ridley. But everybody forgets about the throwback dinosaur whether he likes that nickname or not. I've known him long enough that I don't care. Lee had another really solid game all around three receptions for 30 yards including a 22 yarder where he was wide open and I think people forget that he can catch and he can turn up field and you don't want to see his shoulder pads go down when he's rumbling towards you. But it's just it's just it's another wrinkle to this offense that does have a lot of skill players that can make plays, and it was on a day that we haven't been terribly critical of too many but let's be honest the wide receiver position those playing a few too many drops from my liking. I think that's a fair and accurate thing to say but the tight ends really came to the rescue here. I think that includes Lee Smith. And since we have about a minute left to I'm pouring over the box score here and audio again daji right with a sack really kind of showed up a little bit that that like that second wave of this young group of rookies. You have him you have we had a Richie Grant siding. Oh yeah Darren Hall play any other rookie stand out to you guys. I mean those are the guys that I think of it's like Richie, Adé, Darren Hall. We've seen what Avery Williams has been able to do is unfortunate that he wasn't able to play today we saw obviously what Cal Pitts was able to do Jalen Mayfield I mean this is very much a rookie class that this game was huge for all for all of their so many of them had key moments in the game that I thought we're going to look back on and be like that's really something that you wanted to see from this group. Yeah, and I just think that was so key to have young guys show up. We didn't hear Jalen Mayfield's name probably a good thing, which means maybe that he was better along that offensive line as we wrap up quarter number three. Man the Falcons took a long flight to go play the Jets it was not a two and a half hour trip up to the Big Apple it was all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to London to go play the Jets they come back with a come back with a victory and so many guys said that even though it's a long ass flight direct quote direct quote. He's swearing and changing our our G rating and it's a direct quote and it is the truth as the Falcons head into the by week with a better feeling, especially after what happened against Washington. Tori how important was this win for the psyche of this team. And I remember Scott you and I we did a great debate a couple of weeks ago before we went into this three game slate where you had both New York teams and Washington and I remember you asking me. You know this team hasn't won yet, but is it possible that they come out with a few wins after this three games like for the bye week and what's reasonable and what do we think and I said. I was like they can win two of the three I'm okay with them going into the bye week being two and three. I kind of still believe that you know they had a chance to win that Washington game and I think that Washington game really stains more than any of the other losses. So that is unfortunate to be to kind of think that you could have been three into instead of two and three going into the bye week and but can't change anything about that. And I think it is good that they go into this bye week feeling a bit more confident about the way that they played not just that they won the game but being able to take things from the game, whether it's the run game whether it's this is day, whether it's, you know, guys, the defense stepping up in key moments I mean you can take actual things from this game and kind of build upon them and and I think that's really really important for this team that's going to have a tough coming out of the bye week. Yeah, I think it's I think it's important the way they won, not just that they won you know this was a great win on all I guess that I guess from special teams. There's a couple of challenges there's a couple of challenges there on that on that longer return but I feel like, as I think as a whole this was a great win, especially when you consider the amount of people who are out injured or not playing. I think they should feel really great the fact that Kyle Pitts had his his coming out party that, you know, the D line perform the rookies got their shot and they played well. You know, you know these guys can play and show up when needed. And then you get into a bye week where you'll have guys who are rested and hopefully recover to come back in the next week or a couple weeks. They should feel good about about where they as a team and know that they let one get away from them. And in that, you know, I think they should be feeling really good heading into the bar. Chris, I kind of want to build on what you were saying there. I think it's really good point that it's not just that they want it's how they want especially after a week where there were so many ready made excuses for a loss, right. You just lost Isaiah Oliver who had all the good feel story about him. Russ Gage isn't back Marla Davidson isn't back you got to travel. You give up a home game to travel across the, you know, across an ocean to go play another game at 930am Eastern, you could have picked your excuse for why they weren't able to perform, and they would have been sitting there at one and three. And maybe a team of lesser character would have said why us boy did we get screwed, right. They didn't say that. And I think that has been evident that's the thing that impresses me most this team is very flawed. They have a lot of holes and makes a lot of mistakes. But the fact that they just, they just take punches, but they just keep swinging they may not be connecting but they keep swinging and they keep trying. I really like that about the character of this team. I think that makes me want to follow them more, even if I weren't getting paid to do so. I think that it's important to me to see that type of characteristic. It may not equate to a lot of wins, necessarily, but I think it says something about the players that they have there and could provide a good foundation as we head forward. So yeah, I mean I think that really does it here we have taken this game this incredibly dramatic game and kind of broken it down for you guys over the course of four quarters. Thank you so much for hopping in you guys know what to do at this point right. Great, preferably five stars review with lots of glowing things about how good of a podcaster I am and subscribe on itunes spotify go to YouTube man. Subscribe to the Falcons page where you can always get this podcast and lots of other cool stuff man and obviously stay tuned to Atlanta Falcons calm. I hope you enjoyed and fun content coming your way. Thank you guys so much for joining us. We will take a break for the bye and be at you after the Falcons play the dolphins in two weeks.