Sometimes after a hard day's work, all you want to do is grab a cold beer with your co-workers to celebrate a job well done and that’s exactly what the Falcons' offensive line did Sunday following their 28-14 win over the San Fransisco 49ers.
While you may grab a beer at your local bar or out of your fridge, the Falcons offensive lineman, along with head coach Arthur Smith, did it in style inside a field suite at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
So, how did the epic celebration come together? The Falcons head coach joined The Steakhouse on 92.9 The Game the morning after the win to share how it served as a motivational tactic leading up to kickoff.
“We were doing a walkthrough the day before and they looked over to the field suites, and they asked me. And I had been kind of poking at them all week saying ‘this is the number one run defense’ and getting after those guys," he told Steak Shapiro & Sandra Golden. "They looked at me, it was McGary and Lindstrom, they were like ‘if we run for over 100 and win, can we go in those suites?’
Smith put general manager Terry Fontenot on the spot to call team president Rich McKay to see if they could make it happen, and sure enough, when the clock hit :00 Sunday, the beers were flowing in the suite.
The unit earned it as they paved the way for the Falcons to put up 168 rushing yards on 40 carries—the fourth week in a row with 150+ yards on the ground. With Cordarrelle Patterson on IR, Smith complimented the job that Caleb Huntley, Tyler Allgeier and Avery Williams have done to stabilize the ground game combined with Marcus Mariota picking up key yards with his legs including a clutch 3rd down conversion Sunday.
We may have seen the birth of a new tradition Sunday at Mercedes Benz Stadium and Falcons fans would certainly love to see plenty more celebrations after big home wins.
At 3-3, the Falcons travel to Cincinnati Sunday to take on the Bengals, and you can hear the game on 92.9 The Game!