'You Buried Us in May, Bury Us Again': Falcons Coach Arthur Smith Responds to Expectations

The Atlanta Falcons fell to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday 27-26.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Since being hired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in January of 2021, Arthur Smith's team roster has not had very high expectations. 

And following their loss on Sunday to the New Orleans Saints, those low expectations were reminded to Smith once more. 

"You guys wrote our obituary back in May," Smith said. "You'll continue to write our obituary. Who cares? We have 16 games." 

But Smith and his team are focused on one thing going forward, and that's who they take on the following Sunday. 

"If we don't learn from this and get better - We gotta go play L.A. They got a three day jump on us," Smith said. "We'll watch the tape, we'll look for corrections and then we have to get going on the Rams...Write whatever ya'll want. Same guys that ranked us 45th. You buried us in May, bury us again. We don't care. We'll get back to work."

The Falcons looked like the dominant team through three quarters, but the team couldn't be the one in front once the clock hit triple zero at the end. Kicker Younghoe Koo had a chance to knock down a 63-yard field goal at the end, but the game-winning attempt was blocked.

In the middle of the third quarter, the Falcons held a 23-10 lead and began driving into the red zone. Quarterback Marcus Mariota fumbled the ball on the 5-yard line, preventing Atlanta from scoring.

Needing a first down to extend the drive and potentially ice the game late in the fourth quarter, Atlanta was facing a 3rd-and-1 from the NO 42. Mariota fumbled the snap and picked it up, but could not reach the line to gain forcing a punt and giving New Orleans life.

All things considered, Smith is right. The Falcons have had zero expectations for 2022 after the team signaled that they were going into a rebuild, and many predict that they will be drafting at the top of next year's draft. But Sunday's game proved that the offseason's expectations mean absolutely nothing and it's about what happens on the field. However, the losing expectations matched Sunday's result, but many probably didn't expect how the Falcons would reach to the conclusion.

However, Smith and the Falcons gave those doubters a reason to be wrong for most of Sunday's game. And that's why Atlanta must go back to the drawing board this week and figure out how to fully prove those critics wrong.

Smith and the Falcons face the Los Angeles Rams Sunday at 4:05 p.m. at SoFi Stadium.

Follow Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard

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