On Tom Brady...
"Number one, he's a competitor. I think that's what jumps out the most. He'll stare right down, here comes a blitz or a rusher about ready to hit him, stands in, delivers the ball at the right spot. The accuracy that he has going to it, to different receivers, that for sure is a factor. We know we have our work cut out for us, but at the same time, we've improved as well. So we like where we're heading defensively. We know it's a fantastic matchup and one we can't wait to be a part of."
- Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn
"I think with any quarterback you have to put pressure on him. For him, he's so great at recognizing blitzes sometimes it's hard to fool him. I do know if you have a great defensive line and you can put pressure on any quarterback with just four guys you have a lot more success."
- Falcons Defensive End Dwight Freeney
"He's a great player. He's a future Hall of Famer and his game is impeccable, so we got to do what we can to stop him."
- Falcons Linebacker Vic Beasley, Jr.
"We just have to go out there and challenge them, take away his looks and not give him any pre-snap reads so he can pick the defense apart."
- Falcons Cornerback Jalen Colins
"When you're a good quarterback you make the guys around you good also. He's been around for a long time and he's mentioned in the top-five quarterbacks for a reason. Like I said, when you have guys that you can make even better just from you and what you bring to the team is remarkable."
- Falcons Cornerback Robert Alford
"Just to go against a guy with so much experience is a challenge within itself. He's a guy who takes really good pride in knowing the defense and what the team is doing against him. He is a great quarterback. To go against this style of quarterback, we've gone against some great quarterbacks this year, but Tom Brady is another level. To go against a guy like this you have to be ready at any given time."
- Falcons Safety Ricardo Allen
"I've gotten to know Tom over the last seven or eight years. We met, really for the first time when they came down for training camp, and I got to spend some time with him. Tom has been awesome to get to know. He's incredibly supportive. We exchange text messages back and forth quite a bit. I think all quarterbacks and younger guys have looked up to Tom throughout their career. His consistency, his longevity, just the way he has competed throughout his entire career has been impressive. So, I think all of us have looked up to him."
- Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan
On the Patriots defense...
"It's going to be tough. Obviously, New England is the number one scoring defense in the league. They've done a great job of keeping people out of the end zone. For us, it's going to come down to playing well. We're going to have to make the plays when they present themselves – throw it well, run it well, catch it well and block well upfront. It comes down to the details in games like this."
- Falcons Quarterback Matt Ryan
"The Patriots have great defense. It's absolutely going to be a hard time for our offense. They do a great job, especially [with] their front guys. They're big, heavy guys. They read the run very well, they stop really well [and] they commit to making it really tough. They have a bunch of guys that work really well together and they do a lot of different complex things."
- Falcons Center Alex Mack
"Just got to be physical. Go right at them. You can't try to finesse anything. You have to be physical and go right at them."
- Falcons Wide Receiver Mohamed Sanu
"They're a fundamental defense. They don't make mistakes, so it's going to be a real challenge for our offense."
- Falcons Running Back Tevin Coleman
"The different coverages. They switch up on every week, so you can't really get a tab on them. I tip my hat to (New England Head Coach) Bill Belichick and what's he been doing all the years that he's been in the league. It's going to be difficult, but at the same time, we're a high-powered offense, and as long as we stay with our prep I feel like we'll be okay."
- Falcons Wide Receiver Taylor Gabriel
On the Patriots offense...
"(QB) Tom (Brady) is a great player and what they do offensively is they really take advantage of you and your weaknesses. They are a matchup type of offense. They'll change what they do based on who they play and that's what makes them so unique is because of their preparation going into the game. As far as how do you stop them? You have to pretty much do what you do. You don't know what they are going to come with. You have to go with your fundamentals – the things that you have been doing all year. If you are a hook dropper, understand your hook rules. If you're a D-lineman, understand what you need to be doing from a D-line standpoint. And you follow those and you have to trust in those. That's basically what we're going to do because they're a team, they can come out in whatever personnel and play the whole entire game in that personnel that we have not prepared for."
- Falcons Defensive End Dwight Freeney
On the Patriots...
"This is a tremendous franchise, tremendous team. They have done great all my years in the league. It's been them mentioned in the Super Bowl and there is a reason for that because of people they have around even from the upper management, down. They do a great job of preparing those guys to play and this is going to be another tough one."
- Falcons Defensive End Dwight Freeney
On the Patriots running game...
"Yeah, they have a great running attack. They have a balanced game. A balanced game plan, with Tom Brady, (Julian) Edelman, the receiving threats, (LeGarrette) Blount, Dion Lewis and the other backs."
- Falcons Linebacker Vic Beasley, Jr.
On the Patriots wide receivers...
"I feel like they have a nice group out there with the Patriots. From what we've seen on film, you can see that Tom Brady has been on those guys to be where they're at now. As far as us on defense, we've been improving each and every week during the season and I think that's what got us here now."
- Falcons Cornerback Robert Alford
"They do a really good job of getting away from defenders. They have a lot of grit. They're just ball players. But at the end of the day, if we play our ball we'll be fine."
- Falcons Safety Keanu Neal
On the Patriots Secondary...
"They are really, really good secondary. They work really well together and they're always at the right place at the right time. They feed off each other really well. You just have to be on your Ps and Qs when you go against them."
- Falcons Wide Receiver Mohamed Sanu
