Falcons' Arthur Smith on Pre-Snap Penalties: 'Not an Excuse'

Arthur Smith criticized the Atlanta Falcons offense after committing four penalties on the opening drive of their game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Jeremy Brener | Aug 21, 2023

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Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons were the team penalized the least in the NFL in 2022, but they didn't look like that in the team's opening drive during their 13-13 tie against the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night.

The team committed four penalties for 38 yards in a drive that saw them go all the way inside the 5-yard line. Then, an interception from Desmond Ridder resulted in no points. But Falcons coach Arthur Smith was more disappointed in the penalties than the pick.

"The stuff we can control pre-snap, that's 100% on us," Smith said postgame. "That is not an excuse. If you got bad technique, obvious holds, that's bad football. We got to clean that up. I got to see those. Either way, didn't matter at the time, they called them.

"Like I said, if we can carry over what we did last year, we weren't penalized. We were the least in the league. We’ve got to continue to coach that and play the right technique.”

The Falcons have loads of talent on the offensive side of the ball. With Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Bijan Robinson among others, the Falcons should win games with that core. However, if they fail to do the right things pre-snap, all of that talent could be wasted away.

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Published Aug 21, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.