Head Coach Mike Macdonald On The Shutout Victory vs. The Minnesota Vikings

Mike Macdonald (0:00)

Great, great, really team win. Great atmosphere, 12s are rocking.

Just really proud of our team. You know, we just, we really were doubled down on it, you know, doubling down on our process every week and really trying to just be dedicated to playing our style of ball. And I think that's starting to show up, and which is great. And we talk about, you know, all three phases complimenting one another, stacking plays over the course of the game, which is a point of emphasis over the last probably a couple months. And our guys have done that. And the result that they've shown when we do hit adversity in games is really incredible. Shoot, I'm the guy that they have to calm down sometimes, which is a great sign. So guys have each other's backs, playing really hard. I mean, even offensively today, Mike, we started the game slow, but we stuck to the game plan. We found some more runs in the second half and was able to close the game out there on that sharps run, which is a dynamite play. So great team win. I know the defense played really well. Proud of them. Takeaways definitely make a huge impact on the game, but it really was a team win, complimentary football, and excited to kind of get back and get to work for Atlanta.

SPEAKER_2 (1:11)

For a defense team to celebrate a shutout, those are pretty rare in this league.

Mike Macdonald (1:14)

Yeah, it's great. I mean, you look at teams that when shutouts happen, it's normally, it's hard to keep teams like out of plus territory. So when you get there, it's, you know, taking the ball away in the red zone. You know what I mean? DeMarcus Lawrence's cause fumbles probably my new favorite play of all time. Like, just an incredible, incredible play. I just saw this blur coming down and just violently attacked the ball. It's been such a point of emphasis. And to see him do that was really great.

SPEAKER_3 (1:43)

They did get, offensively, it seemed like they brought a lot of pressures. Yeah. You were offensive a lot, maybe, at times.

Mike Macdonald (1:49)

Yeah, we need to start faster, especially in terms of protection and making sure we're on the same page. So, on paper, it's nice to say we have it protected. But, you know, when they're doing it full speed, and we got to be out ahead of plays a little bit faster on offense. But guys have resolved. And I thought we protected Sam better in the second half. And the run game helps with all that as well.

SPEAKER_2 (2:12)

What do you think allowed you guys to pick up on the protection front, kind of, as the game progressed there after halftime?

Mike Macdonald (2:17)

I think everybody deserves credit. I mean, we didn't go all haywire. You know, you just go back to the drawing board. Get to good protections that you like, get to better plays, stay out of certain situations, get a better feel for how they're matching us. I mean, there's kind of all things going on there. And then I think players may be just calming down and executing at a higher level. But look, you got to give Minnesota a lot of credit, too. They had a good plan.

And they called an aggressive game and they did a good job.

SPEAKER_4 (2:45)

Before the Charminet touchdown, what went into the decision to bring the offense back out on the field 4-1?

Mike Macdonald (2:50)

Yeah, I was being like too much of a nerd by disco and saying, hey, make it a three touchdown game rather than a three score game. And to Clint's credit, he was confident in what we were going to be in. So we decided to call timeout and go for it.

SPEAKER_3 (3:08)

Disagreeing with the field goalie?

Mike Macdonald (3:10)

I did hear the fans, yeah. It turns out they were right.

SPEAKER_5 (3:13)

Any concerns on the offense?

Mike Macdonald (3:15)

I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_5 (3:15)

Any concerns about the offense?

Mike Macdonald (3:18)

No, it's the same thing every week. It's, look, there's things that Minnesota did that was really good. And there's some things that we capitalized on, which is good for us. And we got to understand those things so we can make sure they're not issues moving forward. But that's the same thing every week. I'm sorry, it's every phase. Everybody, at this time of year, it's hard to come up with new ideas. So there's a lot of teams being inspired by things that happened from prior weeks. It happens in all three phases, it happens every week, so same process.