What Atlanta Falcons Coach Arthur Smith Says About 'Credit' for Patriots Legend Bill Belichick

Falcons coach Arthur Smith says Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't given enough credit for one aspect of his teams.

Film review? Nah, it didn't get any better the second time Atlanta Falcons head coach watched the Dallas Cowboys dominate his squad.

Asked if his thoughts had changed since reviewing the Week 9 game, and Smith was blunt when discussing the one-sided affair.

"No, no. They got up on us," said Smith in review of Dallas' 43-3 drubbing of his squad. "Played right to their strengths. We didn't we didn't respond well, and we got avalanched in the second quarter."

"We deserved to get beat like that. We didn't play well enough. Didn't coach well enough but look, good news is we're playing Thursday we're going to move on to New England."

The good news is there is a quick turnaround, and the Falcons can put the Cowboys game behind them quickly. The bad news is the Patriots are one of the hottest teams in the league with a four-game winning streak, and the Falcons look to be without their best player in Cordarrelle Patterson.

The rookie head coach can look across the sidelines on Thursday night and see a coach in Bill Belichick and franchise worth emulating.

"We'll all strive to reach the record he's got for Super Bowls," said Smith. "He's somebody that's done it at a high level for a long time with a lot of different styles of team."

"I think the one thing they don't get enough credit for is how physical they are. They're as physical as any team, and if you go back and look at the defenses he coached with the New York Giants to how they built that Cleveland team, they’re big physical teams.

"They're physical as hell."

The Falcons are a 6.5-point home underdog on Thursday night. The Patriots are coming off their best showing of the season, a 45-7 drubbing of the Cleveland Browns, while the Falcons are coming off of that loss at Dallas, their worst showing of the season.

Sounds like the perfect time to copy Belichick. Sounds like the perfect time for an upset. ... right?