Falcons postgame

P-U. What a stinker of a game. But the important thing is that the Atlanta Falcons won their second game of the season, this time over the San Francisco 49ers, 20-16. While the stat book doesn't reflect a good game played by either team, I like the way the Falcons played. They made big plays, caused turnovers and capitalized on them. They ran the ball well, they stayed out of trouble offensively and they looked ready to play the 49ers. That's what it takes to win games in the NFL.

The Georgia Dome crowd was pitiful. The announced paid attendance was somewhere around 66,000, but that obviously wasn't an exact head count. But those who did show up actually had something to cheer for, which was nice for a change, I'm sure.

Here's a quick look at the week before I get into postgame quotes. Check The Telegraph and macon.com for my grades and further analysis of the game. You'll also find a story about the two hapless quarterbacks from Sunday's game, as well as a notebook of goings on. On Monday night, I'll be talking with former Falcons head coach Dan Reeves and getting his opinion on where the Falcons stand right now what he thinks needs to happen with the team in the future. You'll find that story in Tuesday's Telegraph and, of course, on macon.com.

Here's what I got from postgame interviews:

Here is a conversation that occurred between fullback Ovie Mughelli and fullback/special teamer Corey McIntyre after several reporters began gathering around Mughelli:

McIntyre: "You got 2 yards! Are you kidding me?! What'd you do with the ball?"
Mughelli: "They got it, they got it. Trust me."

Then Mughelli began to talk about his touchdown:
"It's hard to describe. I was just happy, because I don't get to touch the ball all that much as a fullback. When I do get the ball, I've got something; I try my best to make it a touchdown or get 4 or 5 yards. It's the fact that I did what I'm supposed to do and I'm excited, happy."

On the running game being consistent Sunday:
"It felt great. That's what we're all about. What we've been trying to do since the beginning of the season is to have a consistent running game and to really be able to move the ball at will. We felt that we knew this defense, and having a plan and actually executing it felt great."

Then a reporter asks Mughelli about the Falcons' defense, to which he replies:
"The defense of the 49ers, you've got to give it to them. They played well. They played real well. They gave us some trouble at the beginning with some of the blitzes, but in the second half, we figured everything out and got first downs."

The reporter tells Mughelli he was talking about his defense.
Mughelli: "Our guys?"
Reporter: "Yeah"
Mughelli: "Our guys? Shoot. Our defense is the best. We don't have to worry about them. They gave us the ball several times and we converted. We couldn't have won this game without the defense."

Meanwhile, McIntyre could hardly contain his laughter as he sat in front of his locker.
Mughelli looks at McIntyre: "I didn't hear what he said!"
McIntyre: "You get the A-hole award! God Almighty!"

Ahhh, what a difference a win makes. Of course, there were plenty of laughs at Mughelli's expense, but he's truly one of the most genuine guys I've had the pleasure of talking to in that locker room. He always has a smile on his face and he's always very talkative with everyone. He's just a great guy all around. Moving on.

John Abraham
On the secondary:
"They did a good job catching the ball and they did a good job against their quarterback. They told us before the game starts that we needed to hit the quarterback 12 times. I'm not sure if we got him 12 times, but I know we got back there a lot. I know I touched him a few times myself. We did a good job of creating pressure, but they did a good job finishing the play off for us."

On Chris Crocker's and Lawyer Milloy's plays to keep the Niners out of the end zone:
"I guess the big thing was not letting the lead go. That was the big thing for us. We did a good job of creating turnovers, like I said, and then the offense controlled the game. They did a good job controlling the game and keeping us in the game."

On whether the gameplan changed with Frank Gore inactive:
"Not really. We knew they were going to try to get the running game going, but we know with their system, if we get a lead, the ball is going to be in the quarterback's hands. We did a good job keeping the lead and we had Alex (Smith) trying to beat us and not Gore and the running game, I guess you could say."

Keith Brooking
On the win:
"I've said it time and time again this week, I think that bye week probably came at a pretty opportune time. We got some rest, we just kinda laid low and collected our thoughts. We've got a lot of football to play when we started this week. We've all talked about that through the course of the week. It's big to get this win, just to get some positive energy. We're positive, but obviously when we lose, it's very frustrating, it's disappointing and it leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. But we bounce back every week. But it's going to be good this week, getting that positive feel and just talking about building off of a win instead of, you know, we've got to bounce back and get one after a loss. So that's huge."

Lawyer Milloy
On what the win means:
"Well, the first half sucked. And whenever you have a chance to get away from football - which is what the bye week presented us - you come back kind of refreshed, energized and you forget about what happened the first half of the season. I think we had a good week of practice. We were focused and we're just happy to get a win today."

On his play Sunday:
"Well, coach Zimmer has an outstanding package for players at the strong safety position, and he called my number today in some crucial situations. As a leader of this team, when your number is called, you have to be ready to go out there and you have to produce. That's the only way that people are going to listen to you in the locker room. You have to make them believe by the way you approach practice, the way you go out there and play and you just tell them that it's going to take one game at a time, one win at a time and it means nothing if you don't go out there and produce."