'F**king Bulls**t': Atlanta Falcons Coach Gets Heated After Opponent's Late-Game Score
Outgoing Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith had choice, NSFW words for New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen on Sunday, after the Saints ended a blowout victory over the Dirty Birds with a late-game touchdown.
Smith’s criticism arrived after the Saints, who were up 41-17 with 1:10 left, went into victory formation. Instead of quarterback Jameis Winston taking a knee, the team handed the ball to running back Jamaal Williams, who ran into the end zone for the score.
Smith got heated toward Allen when the teams took the field for postgame handshakes.
“That’s fucking bullshit,” Smith said.
“I understand that,” Allen replied.
It was a bad evening overall for Smith, who was fired Sunday night after the 48-17 loss, which brought to an end his third straight losing season with Atlanta.
Arthur Smith and Dennis Allen have a postgame chat 😳 pic.twitter.com/s469d2OcWq
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 7, 2024
Allen later apologized to Smith and the Falcons after the game.
“That’s not who we are, that’s not how we operate. We should’ve taken a knee,” said Allen, who noted that the players ran the ball “on their own” and Smith “should be” upset by the move.
Winston told reporters that it was “a team decision” to hand the ball off to Williams, who got his first touchdown of the season on the play.
“I think when you have the team morale ― and I asked the guys, I said, ‘Guys, what do you want to do?’ We know how much Jamaal means to this team. And I understood from D.A.’s perspective. So I get from that. But D.A. didn’t condone that at all,” Winston said.
Jameis Winston apologized to Dennis Allen because the play call was "victory". But also explained to Allen it was a "team decision" to go for the Saints TD. "We decided as a team to do it." pic.twitter.com/BorTC6p4nm
— Garland Gillen (@garlandgillen) January 8, 2024
Smith, in postgame remarks to reporters prior to his firing, acknowledged that there were “no rules against” the play.
“They kicked our you-know-what in the second half, they made us pay and took advantage of turnovers. That’s their prerogative,” he said. “It’s also my prerogative to tell him how I feel. If people like that or not, oh well. Like I said, credit to them, I mean they do whatever they want there.”
