What the Falcons had to say after the 22-6 win over the Vikings

On his first win in the NFL: “It’s awesome. It’s a crazy moment. First NFL win. So, I’m just excited about it.”

On all of the rookie defenders contributing: “We just a whole bunch of dogs. We’re all hungry. We all want to make plays. We all want to contribute. We all have roles. We’re on a pace to do some good things.”

On the pressure: “The (defensive) line getting after the quarterback always make the job of the (defensive) backs easier. Those guys went out there and did a great job tonight. They were stout.”

On the defense: “Covering together and rushing together, that’s what it looks like. When you can stop the run and dominate the run downs and force guys to pass the ball. When you have tight coverage on the back end, it allows guys up front to go hunt, and that’s what they did.”

On getting six sacks: “It allows us on the back end to have confidence in our coverage. When we are in tight coverage it gives us a boost of confidence that a guy can’t go back there and hold the ball and jack the ball up all day. I’m super excited for those guys us front. We knew that this time would come. We’ve got two young guys coming off the edge. I think they started out with the first two sacks, and it just kept on rolling. That’s how it goes.”

On the four rookies: “Those guys spend a lot of time together. From the time they got drafted until now, they’ve spent extra meetings together. They do all of this extra stuff together. That’s pretty cool that you see these young guys making plays. Those guys are going to be playing some critical snaps. For those guys to go out there and make plays is great for us.”

On this defense compared to last year: “We’ve got our identity. We’ve got a DC (defensive coordinator) that’s super detailed. He knows exactly what he wants to run. We are not trying to run 20 coverages. We are doing what we are doing, and we’re going to continue to get better at that. You’ve got a guy who has played in this league that’s making these calls. It’s a little different playing for a guy like that, for sure.”

PARKER ROMO, kicker

On the five kicks: “It feels amazing. It’s just God’s timing. I played four games for the Vikings last year. It’s crazy that I know more of their guys than I do of our guys. That’s my homework … and make points when they need me to.”

On coming into the operation: “The unit with Liam (McCullough, the long snapper), BP (punter/holder Bradley Pinion) and the offensive line, they are all vets and have a lot of experience with each other. That makes it a lot easier for me to do my job. It’s a team game. Every person matters. The offense did a great job getting down the field and into scoring position. I’m sure they wanted to have more 6’s than 3’s, but hopefully they’ll come later.”

On being from Peachtree City: “It’s special. It’s super special for me to be able to put on for the city of Atlanta because I spent 17 years of my life in Georgia,”

On the Vikings crowd: “You probably could tell that I was the first one who was a little bit emotional. Barely snuck that first one inside of the left upright. I just needed to see it go through. Settle down and keep my composure. BP and Liam did a great job helping me stay calm through the game. Calm and composure, it’s key.”

On the environment: “It was just football. Part of the game. I had the opportunity to experience my first road game in a great environment. I appreciate that.”

On getting first NFL win: “It went well. It went really well. I can’t wait to stack more.”

On the pressure: “I felt like we got home today. We rushed together as one.”

On his first interception: “They kept running that same type of motion with that same type of stem with the receiver. So, it was only certain amount of things I could get. I knew they were going to keep coming back to it. I was anticipating the break. I just broke out and got my eyes back around.”

On almost having two interceptions: “We were in a little zone coverage. I just had to squeeze back and I broke on the ball. Initially, I was going for the PBU (pass breakup) and I just dove and it landed in my hands. I honestly didn’t know if it touched the ground our not. With these NFL rules now, you can get up if nobody touches you. You can keep run. I got up and tried to do what I know. I was trying to make something happen with the ball.”

On going in for A.J. Terrell: “I wouldn’t necessarily say it was tough. Just being prepared. Just me still locking in and watching film with the guys like I’m a starter. So whenever my opportunity came up, I try my best to not make it a drop off. Just being prepared and ready for the moment.”

On if can hold it if Terrell has to miss some time: “Yes, sir, I’m ready. I feel like this defensive back group as a whole. Everyone is ready for their opportunity. We are all hungry. We feel like we deserve to be here. We are to continue to compete. We won another friendly competition and get better as a group. That’s the goal.”

On the return game on special teams: “Just shoot your shot at the right pitch. Don’t try to force anything. Let it come to you. We had a few opportunities, but they’ve got a great gunner over there with (Tai) Felton, a speed guy. He was able to kind of impact a little bit from the return standpoint. We were prepared. We had great return calls. We are going to continue to get better as a special teams unit. We have a great group of guys all coming together. We’ll put it all together.”

On getting Romo ready: “It was just a tough week in general. Koo (kicker Younghoe Koo) is one of my best friends. You never want to see somebody not perform like they know how they can perform. We come together as a group. We work really well as a group. Liam is a great long snapper. One of the best in the NFL. We have an amazing (offensive) line. Our tight ends are on our field goal team. We just go out there and do our job. We trust whoever’s back there to make the kick whether if that’s Parker or whether if that’s Koo. We trust that they are going to do their job and make their kick as well.”

On if he had to make adjustments as the holder for Romo: “Yeah, every kicker likes their ball differently. That’s something you talk about during the week. That’s something that me and Parker talked about probably ad nauseam during the week. Just making sure that I get how he likes the ball. The way he likes the ball was not hard to do, so it was an easy one. He was really good at communicating it throughout the week. We got it down, and he had a great game tonight.”

On the blocking: “I’m just really proud of our group, the front as the (offensive) line. As a group, it takes all 11 in the run game. Just the effort that everybody showed today was great in a really hard environment. Mike (Penix Jr.) and Ryan Neuzil did a great job of kind of getting us right. It was good.”

On running the ball well: “I think we take immense pride it in. We knew that we weren’t good enough (in the first game). We weren’t good enough in key situations. We were much better (Sunday). We really owned those opportunities that we got.”

On how were they better vs. the Vikings: “I think we just kept it really simple. We really overemphasized the communication of things. Just kind of really tied back into our basic fundamentals. Really communicated and really focused all week on making sure that we are (identifying) things properly. I think we did a really good job with that. Just finishing and straining to make a 3-yard run a 5-yard run. The backs did a great job with that.”

On the short-yardage packages from under center: “(Offensive coordinator) Zac (Robinson) did a great job, and we really focused on the details of the short-yardage plan, in goal line and in all of those kind of opportunities. He did a great job with us and coach (Dwayne) Ledford did a great job with us. The guys up front really took ownership in that. I don’t know what the stats were, but we weren’t good enough last week. So we took a lot of pride in winning those opportunities this week.”

On the getting the win: “It was great for our team and our morale. Obviously, it’s not good losing the first game, but it was good for us to put that behind us and try to go 1-0 this week, which we did.”

On the TD drive at crunch time: “It was great just looking at one another, looking to our right and our left, and know that we have to win this game. It starts with the guys up front. We are going to all play as an 11 and see where it takes us.”

On moving forward: “Watch the tape, see our mistakes and also don’t downplay the good things. Try and go 1-0 next week.”

On the operation with new kicker Parker Romo: “It went really well. Anytime that you’ve got a new guy coming in that you don’t know much about him. Day 1, I told him whatever you need, let Bradley and I know. As many reps as you need this week. Whatever happens regardless of who’s up and who’s down, like we are going practice like both guys are going to kick. It’s tough when you get a new guy coming in. We got a lot of reps this week. We got to feel out everyone’s timing. We tried to put Parker in the best position to make his kicks.”

On going 5-for-5: “It’s starts from top down with the coaches putting us in good position for any opportunity. Bradley, I think he’s the best holder in the league. My job is to make the kickers’ job easy. If I can put the ball in the same spot every time, it makes Bradley’s job easy. Laces out, he puts the ball down. Makes Parker’s job easy. Go from there and give him the best opportunity to do what he can do.”