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POSTGAME QUOTES
OCTOBER 11, 2009
Initial comments:
“Obviously just a great victory for the team. I thought the defensive team played a tremendous game today, had one bad football play, and unfortunately that led to a touchdown. But, I think all in all, I think offense, defense, special teams just a great job. The offensive football team being able to rush the football the way they did today enabled us to stay in the game and have an opportunity to win the football game at the end. We just have to keep building upon that. I think that was key today. I think defensively, limiting their balls down the field was the biggest thing. They knew they were going to stretch us vertically as much as they can. We were able to defend those over the top today, and that was the difference. It was a good team victory, and obviously with what our guys have been through this week, coaches and players alike, it was a great tribute to Mike Zimmer and his family. It’s just awesome. I don’t know how it could be any better for that. It’s great.”
Q: On any one word he would use to describe the emotion:
“I don’t know if there’s a one word, but they believe they can win, and no matter what the circumstances are. We keep talking about that, and just keep playing. Don’t worry about it, don’t flinch, just keep playing. They believe that. We’ve got a great leader in the quarterback who just stays so poised in times of duress and everything breaking down around him. [He made] some other big plays today with his feet. He’s just been playing lights out. I think all the receivers don’t get frustrated, just keep running and playing. I kept telling them, ‘You’re getting grabbed, I know that. Just keep playing and it will happen. But you can’t stop your feet.’ Those things worked out for us at the end, so that was good. It’s a good lesson. We keep talking about those lessons. For a football game – it was going to be a tight game here, the crowd’s so into it. It’s hard to play here. We had the delay of game penalties, the procedure penalties. We’ve got some work to do, improve upon things, but we’re coming home to play those Houston Texans. We’ll get back after it after we take care of things on Tuesday with the arrangements for Vikki Zimmer and so forth.”
Q: On if it’s the message he’s delivering or the character of the team that’s allowing them to finish games:
“We really talked about it last year. We had a very solemn locker room in Indianapolis last year. I think our guys that were there with us, they understood what that meant, and they’re stepping forward. That’s what’s great. And how half of them weren’t even playing that game, but they knew what I mean. And the guys that are still here, and the guys that earned spots at that point, and the other guys we’ve gained, we’ve added to this football team, they understand what it’s all about. They’re playing for each other. You keep doing that and you can be pretty good. They keep telling me talent is overrated, so that’s good. (laughter) That’s what they say, ‘Talent is overrated.’ No talent, just play, and play 11 guys together and you can’t be beat. “
Q: On how big RB 
“Huge. It was huge. This team doesn’t give up 100-yard rushers. Believe me, I know that. It’s a tradition, and it’s prideful. What our offensive group and Cedric did today has been unmatched for a long time. It was a big game.”
Q: On what three-straight division wins means:
“It means three-straight division wins. We’ve got a lot of football left to play.”
Q: On if he feels like the Bengals should have won by more:
“I don’t worry about how much we should have beaten anybody by, or what you win by. You’ve just got to win, and all that doesn’t really matter. If you have 1,000 yards, and they have 12, if you lose you lose. It doesn’t really matter.”
Q: On how he shut down the Ravens vertical game:
“We don’t explain it, but the guys did a nice job today. We’re happy.”
Q: On what was said to and by defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer:
“He said, ‘You know how Vikki felt about all of you. She’s up there now in Heaven smiling at you.’ Win or lose, she loved these guys. I was in their house on Thursday afternoon, and the Post-it notes all around, treats for the players, and I reminded those guys of that Friday morning. I said that they were always on her mind. I thought the way those guys played defensively ... because we had a little bit of a funk to us on Friday. We were able to push out of the funk, and that was good.”
Q: On if he was worried about the funk he saw on Friday:
“I was a little bit worried about it. I thought when Mike came back on Saturday and was around, and they saw how he was handling it, I felt like we would be over it. On Friday we were down, and it took a while to get the guys going in practice on Friday. They were truly shaken, as they should have been, and expectedly. And obviously the coaching staff was. We were all there at the house on Thursday night, and it was very difficult. We were all with Mike at my house until very late at night. It’s been tough. We were glad that he was able to come with us, his family that’s here and the rest of the family that’s back in Cincinnati. We’re going to put our arms around them and give them all the love we can.”
Q: On when Zimmer decided to make the trip:
“He wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He kind of went back and forth. Let me say this, I appreciate the privacy that [the media] has allowed him and his family. That’s what he was most worried about. He didn’t want to be a distraction to the football team. And I appreciate how you’ve been handling it. It’s been good. That was all he was worried about. He wanted to be here as long as his family wanted him to come, and the fact that they wanted him to come and be here, supported him, was good.”
Q: On how much WR
“He was one of those guys that got to play last year at the end, and he got hurt early on. As he came back… Andre is really doing like we expect Andre to do. We really felt comfortable and confident that he would grow into this, and we would really be able to do some things with him that we weren’t quite able to do all the time. It’s been great. Every week he gets better. That’s the thing. And he’s given us quality snaps at returner. If we have to put him out there on the punt team, he’ll give us quality snaps. If he’s a 2 on the kickoff, he’ll give us quality snaps. The evolution of the position and what he means to the 45-man roster is huge.”
Q: On what Caldwell adds that wasn’t there before:
“He’s got great vertical speed. He’s got great vertical speed. That was basically, the play that we scored on, we tried to throw it in there to Danny [
Q: On how much of LS
“I think it is a little bit mental, and I’m glad we were able to come through it in the end again today. We’re working hard with him and just trying to help him to deal with it. We’ve got confidence in him. Yeah, last week we looked at some other guys, but that’s just what you do. You look at some other guys. You go with what you know and what you expect. He’s a great professional and pro, and we’re going to keep hopefully helping him with technique and some things, just the things we’re trying to do.”
Q: On if this is the best he’s seen QB
“Yeah. I think he’s getting better every week.”
Q: On the game-winning touchdown drive:
“The Ravens had been very aggressive all during the game. They had their hands all over our receivers. I knew if we kept throwing the ball downfield, we would get some P.I. calls (pass interference). Being the quarterback, I’m always looking for those PI’s. We had to wait until the final drive but we finally got some.”
Q: On the game-winning touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell:
“The Ravens were in a two-man coverage and Andre made a great read. He went inside and made a great play to come open for me.”
Q: On playing the Ravens defense:
) “The Ravens have as good a defensive team as you’ll ever find in this league. They are smart, they are disciplined and they are physical. When you’re playing the Ravens defense, you are up against two players with Hall of Fame potential [Ray Lewis, Ed Reed] and that says a lot.”
Q: On offensive line play:
“Our line did a great job blocking today. The Ravens are a tough team to play because of the pressure. But we did very well blocking against Suggs, Ray, Trevor Price and the rest of them. There were many times when I had lots of time to find an open receiver.”
Q: On Cedric Benson:
“Cedric did a great job for us today. He is a very physical runner with good speed. We just need to keep him healthy.”
Q: On winning in Baltimore:
“This has always been an awesome place to play, and it’s an awesome place to win. They have always had great fan support and these fans know when to cheer. It’s almost like a college atmosphere. They’ve got the band and Ray’s Dance and they always chant when they get a first down. It’s a fun place to play.”
Q: On how the Bengals were overlooked in the preseason:
“We didn’t deserve to be talked about. Pittsburgh and Baltimore were both in the AFC Championship game, and they should receive all the attention. Sometimes it’s good to be the underdogs. It takes the pressure off you.”
Q: On Ed Reed’s interception for a touchdown:
“Ed just made a great play. With the coverage they were playing, he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He is a great defensive player and he read the route and reacted.”
Q: On Bengals being in first place:
“This is a big win for us but it’s still early. We’ve got to play the Steelers and the Ravens again and I know they are going to be ‘PO-ed’ when we see them again. Those games are going to very tough.”
Q: On the Bengals’ last-minute wins:
“In this league, you’re just happy to get wins anyway you can. If it takes a last-minute drive, that’s great. Every offense would like to score 35 points per game and never turn the ball over but that’s not always going to happen.”
Q: On rushing for over 100 yards against the Ravens defense:
‘What an awesome accomplishment against a well-established and tough defense in our AFC Division. I’m very proud of my offense, offensive line in particular. The Bengals have given me a shot. It’s hard for me to put into words how wonderful a feeling it is and how tremendous an accomplishment it is for me personally. But I want to give a tremendous thanks to the guys in the offensive line as a whole – fullbacks, quarterbacks, receivers, everybody, was blocking and did a great job. Thanks to the offensive coordinator for sticking with the ground game and all the hard work the offensive staff has put in to make this thing work. I greatly appreciate it.”
Q: On being 4-1:
“It’s important to enjoy this one for the weekend, for the night and tomorrow. But come Tuesday, we have to keep it rolling. It wouldn’t be fair for us to relax now, for the organization, to the team or to ourselves, to kind of relax now that we’re number one. The Steelers, the Ravens and even the Browns will be coming to take us.”
Q: On being the leading rusher in the NFL since late December:
“You know hard work pays off and it’s been a long road. And you know what a difference a year makes. I can’t express how thankful I am for all the people who were involved in making that happen. All the staff, the Bengals, from top to bottom, the strength coaches, fans. I can’t express how much it means, it’s not going to stop here.”
On the close games this season:
“The whole season’s been down to the last second, we’ve been through that situation before. We held our poise and the offense did a great job going in and scoring.”
On his interception:
“We were in the zone coverage, the ball kind of got away a little bit, which gave me a little time to get back into the zone and make the play. We knew what those guys are looking for in the red zone, and I just happened to make a play on the ball.”
On the close games so far this season:
“You know we don’t want to make it this hard on ourselves, but it shows we can never quit, you’ve got to fight for all 60 minutes. Which we learned from the first game and it’s been paying off for us.”
On the big hit on Ravens TE Todd Heap:
“Another zone coverage, I just kind of anticipated the play and just came up and made the play.”
On being on top of the AFC North:
“This is our goal coming into the season, we gotta keep grinding, we gotta keep going forward.”
On the defense:
“We just wanted to come out, make some steps and improve on what we did last week and play a complete game. And I think we made some good steps today.”
On the offense’s time of possession:
“The offense did a good job of making long drives and keeping us off the field. We were able to get a few three-and-outs and that was good for us. I wouldn’t say we were fresh at the end of the game, it was a dog fight, it was better then the 80 plays they got last week.”
On the pressure on Ravens QB Joe Flacco:
“We did some good things, we could have done a lot better. They did a lot of back protect, so it’s kinda hard, but we made some good strides in rushing him also.”
On the touchdown catch at the end of the game:
“I figured they were coming to me. I had one-on-one and it was time for me to make a play.”
On the physical play of the game:
“They are a very physical team. I think we matched them today, and came out with the victory.”
On if he thought the Ravens were over-aggressive:
“I think they were over-aggressive trying to make a play to end [the final drive], and it cost them.”
On today’s defensive performance:
“We had to do what New England did last week and make them one-dimensional. We had to stop the run, because Ray Rice can get out and go. We had a little fire behind us with what was going on with Coach [Mike] Zimmer and with the guys in this locker room. We have to stop letting it get into the fourth quarter. But a win is a win.”
On their last four weeks of winning in the final minutes:
“We just have to stay in it and play fundamental football. We stopped them with two minutes left and gave the offense the ball back. And they scored. We just never give up. This is something that the community and the owners have longed for.”
On putting this game into words:
“It was a hard fought game on both sides of the ball. That’s how football is meant to be played. When it comes down to the last waning seconds, you’re battling and fighting, and that’s what the [AFC North] division is all about.”
On the Bengals defense turning the Ravens away:
“We work day-in and day-out on preventing things from happening. As we come together as a unit we want to put together some more games. There were some unfortunate instances where the ball came out, and we have to work on that. It hasn’t even hit the middle of the season, and there is a lot of football to be played.”
On the emotions tied to this game:
“There’s a lot of emotions tied to every game. Emotion is the name of the game. If you don’t come to play on Sunday with a level of emotion, you won’t be able to do anything.”
On Carson Palmer during the final drive:
“He was very confident in the huddle. He did a good job of keeping everybody calm.”
On the penalties during the final drive:
“They are not over-aggressive. The Ravens are the best defense in the league, along with Pittsburgh. I would tie them both at number one. They are going to make their plays in the crunch time.”
On how hard it is to get a call on the Ravens:
“It’s hard because they are so good. It’s just unfortunate that they came at the end of the game, because I don’t think they had a penalty the entire game. It was a situation where when we needed them the most. But I wouldn’t call it over-aggressive.”
On the shot he took be Ray Lewis:
“It was a good hit, but I think he should have just pushed me down instead of hitting me, because I was in mid-air and I had no way of protecting myself. But it was a good play by him.”
Initial comments:
“I want to give compliments to the Bengals. That’s a good football team. We knew they were a good football team, and I say they are everything as advertised and more. They came into a tough environment and found a way to win the game. They played well throughout the game, but then in the end, they finished and won the game. So, hats off to them on that. They are in control of the division, and we’re all looking up at them.”
On if the game was decided on the field:
“The game is always decided on the field. We didn’t play well enough to win. We didn’t play well enough in any of the three phases to win, and we didn’t. We didn’t finish and find a way in the end to win. We all understand that. Every one of our guys understands that. Coaches understand that, and we have work to do.”
On if it’s frustrating to lose a second game in a row in the last few minutes:
“We don’t really measure frustration. That’s a question I wouldn’t even tackle – if it’s frustrating or disappointing. Our guys work so hard – players, coaches, everybody works so hard, just like everybody does in this league. There’s a lot of good players on both sides. It’s hard fought, and we lost a tough football game that I felt was important for us to win. Now we have to find a way, as the season goes on, to overcome it and get ourselves back in position to achieve the things we want to achieve this year.”
On if he thinks the defense wore down:
“I don’t put labels on that. You find a way to get them stopped. You find a way to get first downs, and you find a way to get them stopped. We didn’t get them stopped when we had to, when we needed to, and we didn’t extend drives when we needed to. We didn’t make big plays on special teams, necessarily, when we needed to. Those are all the things, if you want to win this game, that you have to do. All of us have to do a better job, collectively, to find a way to do it.”
On if the Bengals defense was a factor in the Ravens’ limited deep passes:
“I’m not sure exactly what you’re talking about. [The Bengals] had those guys back, and they were playing coverage like they always do. I thought the corners did a nice job on our guys outside. We had a couple guys deep, and they played well. The secondary played well. The front played well. They got good pressure, so give them pressure.”
On Bengals RB Cedric Benson:
“Well, I think Cedric Benson is a really good back. He’s obviously fulfilling a lot of promise that he had early on in his career. That offensive line did a heck of a job, and you have to give them credit. They were well coached. I think they had a nice game plan. Just good fundamentals and a well-coached football team. Solid. They played that way today.”
On if he has any doubt on the officials’ calls:
“I’m not thinking about it. I just think we have to play better. The idea is to play so well that those things become irrelevant. That’s what you have to do in this league, and we didn’t do that today.”
On if he is disappointed by the defensive penalties on the Bengals’ final drive:
“I think you have to play better. You have to find a way not to have penalties. You have to find a way to get them sacked. You have to find a way to make a play, an interception, whatever it might be, and I think we all have to do a better job of that.”
On if he sees improvement of the Bengals from 2008:
“That’s a measurement question. They’re good. They are 4-1 and they’re leading the division. So, that’s a really good football team. We get them in three or four weeks, whenever it is, and hopefully we play well enough to be in a position to make that game matter. That’s our responsibility.”
“I think I did some good things today. I got the guys going and made some plays but there will definitely be some things that we will see tomorrow that will make me sick.”
On his thoughts of the game:
“I mean, we played well. We obviously didn’t play the way we wanted to, but we need to go back and look and see what we thought. But, we really didn’t get on the field that much early in the game. Then we had a good drive, but turned the ball over in the redzone. Like I said, we need to go back and take a look at it. They definitely played well, but I don’t think we did the things we wanted to. When we go and look back at that, I think we’ll see it.”
On what the big difference-maker might have been in a close game:
“It’s just the kind of games these are. Whoever comes down with it, whoever has the ball last and whoever is able to make the most of the opportunity, and that’s what they did. You’ve got to give it to them, they played well. But like I said, I think when we go back and look at it, I’m sure we’ll be a little bit disappointed with how we played.”
On preparing to go to Minnesota to face an undefeated Vikings team next week:
“The same thing we’ve been doing all along. We feel like we prepare just as well, and even better than everybody, so we need to make sure that we stay steady and continue to do what we’ve been doing all season. We’ll go up there, and we’ll come ready to play next Sunday.”
On whether the Bengals secondary had a certain look that was slowing the passing game:
“No, I don’t think it had anything to do with that. I think the biggest thing is we could have executed better. And that’s what we've got to go look at – what we can do to execute the passing game better and the running game better for that matter. That’s where everything starts, up front, and we’ve got to do a better job putting them on their heels and forcing them to see different looks.”
On what could have gone differently toward the end of the game:
“Well, you’ve got to give them some credit for how they played today. And we definitely do that. At the same time, we feel like we can play better. And that’s what we’ve got to do this week in practice, and we’ll go see what we can do tomorrow to get better and work on that. We’ll put this game behind us quickly and get ready for next week.”
On a difficult game upcoming at Minnesota:
“Well, obviously we’ll spend some time between now and Wednesday getting familiar with Minnesota and what they do well. You know, we’ve got to make sure that we come to play, because it’s easy to see how good they’re playing right now, and it will definitely be a challenge for us at their place next weekend.”
On how much tougher it was having trouble stopping the run:
“Makes it real tough, man. They ran their game plan. They executed their game plan. That’s what it’s about at the end of the day. It’s about execution.”
On what they did to make it so difficult today:
“Nothing. They did nothing different. They did nothing special to make it difficult. They ran their game plan; they ran it to a ‘T’.”
On how big the interception was personally for him:
“It means nothing if you lose at the end of the day. When you lose, everything else is out the window. Individual stuff doesn’t matter at the end of the day – for me anyway – at this point of my career. You’re just trying to win, man.”
On whether he felt they were in an OK position with under two minutes to play:
“Yeah, I felt like we were in a great position. But against a good team you can’t leave it down to the wire. You got to make those early plays when you’ve got a chance and make them count.”
On what he is thinking when all the penalty flags come out at the end:
“You want them to let us play ball. It’s supposed to be a 50/50 equal playing field for both teams. At points like that it just didn’t seem like it. Certain plays you’re like, ‘OK, we can understand it.’ Certain calls just didn’t seem to go our way when they’re supposed to. You prepare and you just can’t fight against everything. You’ve got to play your game, and hopefully, not put it in anybody else’s hands. “You can’t put it in anybody’s hands. The players come out there to play and win the game, and you’ve got to win the game on your terms. You can’t have close calls. You can’t put them in a position where it’s a 50/50 call for the referees, because you don’t know which way it’s going to go. It’s not about them, it’s about us playing sound football.”
On how his interception play unfolded:
“It was just making a play. Certain quarterbacks have certain tendencies. It was just a great jam by Fabian [Washington] and me breaking on the ball.”
On how many times he has seen Fabian do that before on film:
“I watch film constantly, man. We’ve been playing against each other for the last couple years, and I know him just as much as he knows me. It’s just competitors going against each other and somebody making a play.”
On whether this loss is as tough as they come:
“Yeah, you’re playing against a good team, and it’s a conference game, and you know what the Bengals present. Hats off to them getting the win, but you know what they present, and they came out and executed their game plan and that’s what you expected.”
On where they go from here:
“We go back to practice tomorrow. There’s no time off. We’ve got meetings tomorrow; we go to meetings, we look at the tape, we get better, you check your mistakes, you look at the plays you left out there, and then you come back Wednesday and prepare for Minnesota.”
On whether the play where he punched the ball out was an instinctive play:
“I mean, it was just, we practiced it, we talked about it, and you see things on tape, like I said. It’s just instinctive stuff at the time, because I got out and [there] and actually, he shouldn’t have caught the ball. So, it’s just running to the football.”
On them sticking to the run game, which many teams haven’t had success with against the Ravens:
“Yeah, you expect them to do that. In order to play a good game, you’ve got to stick to your game plan. You’ve got to run the football when you’ve got good backs. We have guys like Willis McGahee, guys like Ray Rice, and even Matt Lawrence. We’ve got guys unsung that you don’t even know about. So, they stuck to their game plan, you expected them to do that, and they came out with the win.”
On how the Bengals defense played:
“They just played good defense. They played NFL defense. They didn’t do anything different from what we practiced for. They played hard. One thing they did, they played hard. And they won the game because they deserved to win.”
On rebounding emotionally:
“Forget about it. Move on, and prepare for the next game. That’s all you can do. Ain’t no need to dwell on it. You dwell on it and you’ll find yourself in the same situation the next following week. You can’t dwell on it. You’ve just got to get the team to move forward.”
On the little things they can do better:
“I don’t know what happen today, it just didn’t go our way for some reason. Whether it be execution or whatnot, things just didn’t go our way today. You got to take your hat off to Cincinnati because they made it that way.”
On how he kept his balance during his touchdown catch:
“They didn’t tackle me. I got down, and I think they thought my knee was down but I was just doing an old school drill, grass-picking, and I found my way through.”
On the offense:
“The defense was doing certain things, sitting back in coverage. They were just playing everything in front of us. Teams were aggressive at the beginning of the year against us, and we were just going over top of them. But, that’s game plan stuff. We’ll be straight. We’ll get it corrected. As terrible as we played, we had the game in our hands. We’ve just got to do a better job of finishing. It comes down to finish. As terrible as we played, the game was still in our hands. They made plays but we definitely had it in our pocket at the end. We’ve just got to make plays regardless of what the officials are calling on both ends.”
On the Bengals:
“They’re a good team. They didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect. You’ve got to give a good team credit. They had a great running back [Cedric Benson] today. We saw him for the first time. [Allowing a 100-yard rusher] usually doesn’t happen. When you’re that close, this one stings a little bit. We’ll get back to work tomorrow.”
On his physical shape at this point in the season:
“Coming in right now, I’m pretty fresh. Right now, I’m just trying to be an all-purpose back. I don’t want guys taking me for granted out there just saying he’s just a receiver; We have to prove we can run the ball between the tackles. The Bengals played things in front of them, and that’s when I can get open in the pass game. That’s the thing we have to do. My yards are going to come all-purpose. That’s what I know.”
On what happened on the chop block penalty:
“I was called for a chop block? You know what, I didn’t even know I got called. I was actually releasing for a route, so I don’t even know how I got called for a chop block. If I do get fined, that will be an appeal because I didn’t even know they called it on me, honestly.”
