Falcons Complimentary of Cardinals Ahead of Sunday Battle

A great level of mutual respect between the Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons has been shown despite both struggling this season.

Neither of the Arizona Cardinals or Atlanta Falcons will be appearing in the postseason, as their Week 17 battle will feature pride as the only token of victory between the two sides. 

However, despite the lack of success on both sides, individual talent still flashes on both sides of the ball in Atlanta and Arizona. 

Thanks to our friends at Falcon Report, we were able to gather some quotes from Atlanta on their opponents this week. 

Unsurprisingly, they were complimentary of the Cardinals.

Falcons Complimentary of Cardinals Ahead of Matchup

Desmond Ridder on J.J. Watt:

"You know he's going to be amped up, ready to go. Obviously, wants to finish his career on a high note. I know our guys up front are gonna love that challenge of taking him on and everything, but I think we're just preparing as if (it's) another week and another opportunity to get better."

Desmond Ridder on Isaiah Simmons:

"No. 9 on that side of the ball, he flies around and can play nickel, safety, linebacker, up on the D-Line, he can play a little bit of everywhere. So, it's really about just not keying in on one person, but just seeing how the defense reacts overall from the different places that he's at on the field at different times of the game and then going out and playing your game."

Arthur Smith on Isaiah Simmons/Cardinals defense:

"Unique player. They've got a lot of speed. I think Vance Joseph does a good job - they give you multiple looks because they've got a lot of hybrid players which is where this league is going anyways. So, you get a guy like Isaiah Simmons, Zaven Collins - those are long, rangy guys that can run. They can put them in the slot, they can play the spot. You saw it with Carolina, mid part of the decade where Shaq Thompson was out there; they could play like a 4-3 defense, and not necessarily going small because he was fast enough to play that role. You certainly see that with Simmons. Then you see him on the line of scrimmage - he plays a huge role for them in multiple roles and covers a lot of ground. Same thing with Zaven Collins, that's a big, rangy guy that can run. Multiple player for them on the line of scrimmage; traditional stack linebacker. You can create matchups on the line on third down when you're dropping, close windows, because not only they have length, they got speed. So, those guys do a nice job of using (speed)."

Arthur Smith on Arizona's pass rush:

"They give you multiple looks. Obviously they can move Watt around, you have to account for him on every play. With Simmons and Collins and those guys, they can move around. Are they a rusher? That's the game that you see all over the league - these odd structures on third down, overloads on one side, hybrid linebackers come up where they're basically 3-technique rushers in certain packages, dropping, setting picks up. There's a lot of stuff happening. They've certainly got a lot of guys that can create those matchups."

Dean Pees on Cardinals offense:

"They've got a heck of a group of wide receivers. You start looking at names, they've got four guys - at least three guys - that were No. 1's on their team; AJ Green was a No. 1, Hopkins is a No. 1, Anderson was a No. 1, then you got dadgum Hollywood, you've got a bunch of guys. They've got great leaders there. This back, Conner, is a heck of a player - I saw him in Pittsburgh up close and personal a few times and he is a really, really good player. I don't think the quarterback thing, I wouldn't make too much of it. They're probably going to have certain things for McSorley, they're going to have certain things for McCoy. They're going to run what they run, but they've got a talented, talented group of skill guys - very talented."

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