Mike Smith liked what he saw from his defense in Friday night's win against Miami
Coach Mike Smith of the Atlanta Falcons loved what he saw in his first-team defense Friday night.
Lawrence Sidbury, Curtis Lofton, and Erik Coleman all made key contributions for the Falcons in a 16-6 win against Miami to improve to 2-1 in the preseason.
“Our defense played well,” Smith said in his post-game press conference. “We are getting off the field and you’ve got to do that limit your exposure on defense.”
Matt Ryan threw his first touchdown pass of the preseason and was on the field for both of the Falcons’ scoring drives, finishing with 103 yards and an interception.
Of more importance to Smith, however, was the way his defense limited Miami’s first team offense despite playing into the third quarter.
With quarterback Chad Henne directing the Miami offense, Atlanta allowed just one field goal.
The Dolphins converted just one of its third or fourth down chances with Henne in the game, a fact that wasn’t lost on Coach Tony Sparano.
“We played sloppy, inconsistent,” Sparano said. “At times, we did some decent things but couldn’t finish. There was something always unexecuted.”
Atlanta held Miami to 46 rushing yards and dominated time of possession by nearly seven minutes.
“I liked what I saw tonight from all three phases,” Smith added. “We played effectively and with a lot of energy.”
Loftin finished with 11 tackles for the Falcons, and Coleman had an interception in the end zone late in the first half that quashed a possible scoring opportunity for the Dolphins.