Rookie running back Tevin Coleman had one of the lost fumbles. Quarterback Matt Ryan recovered his own fumble on an unsuccessful fourth-and-one play in the first quarter but lost another fumble. The third fumble came on a botched shotgun snap by fill-in center James Stone.
"That's a hard lesson for us to go through when we end up being minus-three for the day,Wholesale China Jerseys," Quinn said of the turnover ratio. "We didn't play football like we like to play in terms of takeaways and creating opportunities for the offense. Give New Orleans credit for that."
"The truth is we've got a really good team and we didn't play like we were capable of," Quinn said Friday.
As in it's all about protecting the ball.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Following his first loss as Falcons coach, Dan Quinn's simple lesson was "it's about the ball."
"He played well,China Jerseys Cheap," Quinn said. "There was no doubt that he felt like himself again and now for us to go into this (open weekend) ... I think we're sailing in the right direction."
It was Atlanta's second straight week with three turnovers after having only two in the first four games. That's why Quinn left his players with a lesson about ball security as they started a rare stretch of three straight off days.
The Falcons' defense was again strong against the run but it chipped in with its share of mistakes,Jerseys NFL Wholesale. Saints tight end Ben Watson continually made plays in the middle of the defense and finished with 10 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown.
There was much speculation late last week about the status of wide receiver Julio Jones, who was on the injury report with hamstring and toe injuries. Quinn said those concerns didn't come from him and he never doubted Jones would be ready for the game.
Ryan has been sacked 14 times this season, including eight in the last two games.
The Falcons also lost three turnovers in a 25-19 overtime win over Washington on Oct,Wholesale Football Jerseys. 11.
"When we talked about the turnovers last week we played with fire and this week we got burned," Quinn said.
"We just didn't play the way we are capable of,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, in terms of ball security," Ryan said after the game. "I mean we knew it was going to be difficult coming down here ... but when you don't protect the football and have a number of turnovers,Wholesale Authentic NHL Jerseys, it's just difficult to win."
Quinn said the mistakes can be fixed.
"We can play so much better," he said. "We had more mental errors in this game than we'd had in previous ones. ... The miscues, those are things that we can control and that's why we get so optimistic knowing there are so many ways for us to improve."
Another reason for encouragement is the long break before an Oct. 25 game at Tennessee will give players a chance to recover from injuries.
Quinn said he expects linebacker Justin Durant (elbow) and center Mike Person (ankle), who missed the game, to return to practice next week. Quinn said safety William Moore, "came through fine" when checked for a possible hand injury.
The Saints were held to only 81 yards rushing, but running back Mark Ingram had two touchdown runs.
The Falcons (5-1) lost three fumbles, gave up five sacks and had a punt blocked for a touchdown in Thursday night's 31-21 loss to the Saints.
Jones snaps were not limited and he had six catches for 93 yards.
