Marvin Lewis
I think Tiger Woods always started with a positive, so the positive was we got in the red zone and scored twice tonight. Obviously, it was not a very good football game for us. First half to be down 21-0. Threw up a touchdown [in the] second series of the second half right after we get stopped on offense. We didn't well play enough and they outplayed us. Our execution on offense, I thought did a good job and then we would just stall the drive out on third down. We got the ball to about midfield and stalled out.
Defensively, we gave up some plays where they got seven, eight, 13 yards. Crossing routes and things like that that hurt us today. On third downs in the first half we weren't very good. They converted the three-or-four they had. They kept the drives alive when they had opportunities. Just disappointing in how we played. We'll have to just look at it very hard and make corrections and move forward quickly.
Was this just another day in the NFL or are there deeper concerns?
We're going to look at the tape and figure out the plusses and minuses. Standing right here, right now, I think it's very fixable and we need to fix it.
On Dak Prescott.
He's continued to play very well, again today. He doesn't throw the ball into coverage and did a good job with accurate throws when he had to.
On Ezekiel Elliott.
Zeke's a fine player. He ran through arms today. He made first downs when it was tough running. Talented kid.
On the offensive line struggles.
We got flushed a little bit but I thought Andy played a good football game. He continued to keep his eyes down the field as much as he could. Run and keep things moving and going and that's what we need from Andy all year. He didn't panic. He just kept playing, which was good to see.
On the Cowboys' sacks.
Again, when you get a lead like they were able to build, you get an opportunity to come after the quarterback and they were able to get pressure on him.
Can you pinpoint why this team isn't playing like a winning team after five weeks?
Well, we've lost three games, that's why. It's plain-and-simple. We haven't played good enough three times out and we lost. I'm not going to sit here and analyze anything beyond that.
On defensive leadership and what the defense is going to do going forward.
They're going to look at the tape, evaluate the tape and listen to the coaches, and make the corrections and work to play better.
On A.J. Green.
I thought A.J. played a good football game. I can't stand here from the sideline…Dallas outplayed us, today.
On the number of Dallas' big yardage plays. (Cowboys had 12 plays of 10 yards in the first half.)
That's what I said earlier. The plays in the first half they had, some on first-and-second down, two on third down. They were big plays. Changed the field position a couple of times with those. They had a 90-yard drive, an 80-yard drive as far as I remember. The opening drive again was 60-something yards. Those are things you can't allow to happen.
Andy Dalton, Quarterback
On how Cowboys defense stopped them early in the game from scoring and what they did on being so effective
"The got us in longer situations on 3rd down, and we weren't able to move the ball. This is a team that is really sound with the kind of defense that they play. They took some things away, and we weren't able to overcome that."
On if he was surprised on what the Cowboys did defensively
"I wouldn't say surprised. They way they had it played out didn't allow us to get the big play that we wanted."
On their third down play execution, and if their first and second down play has to do with it, due to them not getting ahead of the chains
"That's definitely part of it. With a team like the Cowboys who sit back in zones, you've got to throw the ball underneath, or they can attack you to where it will get you to fourth down. When you get in those situations you got to do better to protect plays like that."
On running the ball better to get out of non executable third down situations
"We've got to get some chunks in the run game situated. We had a couple of plays, maybe nine or 10 yards, but we didn't have enough. If you can run the ball when you've got to high looks, it makes things easier."
On what he saw in Cowboys QB, Dak Prescott today
"He played well. He's played well the whole season. He makes plays when he needs to, gives the ball right to his guys. He's done a good job all year."
On having the patience when he's down three scores
"You've got to keep moving the ball at that point. Keep getting depletions. Eventually that's what happens. That's what it is. We got in that green zone and then had a tough catch. We just kept driving the ball. That's what you have to do in those situations."
On WR Brandon LaFell performance and getting in the red zone
"Getting him there is big, and it's the bigger part of our offense. He made good plays today."
On LaFell having a good year
"He's doing everything we ask him to do and he showed it today. When we can spread the ball to a bunch of different guys that's big and he's de finitely a big part of it."
On the "look in the mirror" message head coach Marvin Lewis shared, and if it's something the team is taking to heart
"Anytime you lose, you're going to look in the mirror, you're going to watch film and see what you can do better. You've got to move on from it. We've got potential to do some really good things, and we've got to play to that potential. That's what it comes down to. That's where we're at. We're 2-3 right now and we've got to get to 3-3 next week."
On the frustration of knowing what talent is in the offense and sustaining the quality of consistency that he'd like
"It is frustrating for us. There's where I fell we could do more. I think it comes down to what I was saying earlier. We've got to find a way to get better. That includes me, that includes everybody."
Andrew Whitworth, Offensive Lineman
"We had two possessions and by the third possession, we're down 21-nothing. I mean, it's going to be a long day anytime you're on the road. I've never seen it not be that way. It's an unfortunate way to start for us on both sides of the ball."
"Wins in the NFL are hard to get. I don't think this was a gimme win. I think that's a helluva football team over there. They've got some special players. So, we knew this was going to be a tough to come on the road, come here in their place and play well. We obviously didn't stop them and we obviously didn't make any plays on offense."
"We've got to execute better in a lot of different ways and then come up with some of those miraculous plays you see every year that just make a difference in a game. We just don't quite have it yet. But the bottom line is in this game, at this level of play, the only way you get it is to put your head down and just keep banging. Hopefully, our resolve on this team will be to come back next week and play the best football game we can play since this was our worst this season."
"You get down 21-nothing early in an NFL game on the road, it's going to be a long day. Something special's got to have to happen, a turnover or special teams play can get you back in the game because the defense is going to play off and make you go the long way every time."
"It's disappointing because we didn't play well. There's no much season left. There's so many runs you make in this game. If we end the same way we started last year, this doesn't really matter that much. There's so many points in the season. Until you get late in the year, these games are what they are. You lost and you've got to put your head back down, go to New England and play your best football. That should be the only thing we're worried about. Anything else is not really important at this time."
Giovani Bernard, Running Back
"It's just we're losing…we just haven't really meshed together yet."
On if they saw anything different than the film: "The same thing was on film. We just didn't execute."
"It's tough. It's tough because we know the guys we have on this team. It's just for some reason, it ain't clicking right now."
"We just ain't playing, man. It isn't us. It's frustrating when you know the guys you have on this team and for some odd reason, it's just not clicking. It's frustrating, but that's football. We have next week and hopefully, we can switch it up."
On helping Haiti: "I have some family over there. My uncle is an IT worker and a lot of his computers and stuff are all gone. It's almost like I'm trying to help my family out before I start going around. I've been constant contact with them, sent them some money to try to help somehow. It's just something that's really tough for those people over there. For anybody that's been over there, it's tough…There's no preparation for something like that, especially in Haiti, when they went through the earthquake and whatnot, is tough. The infrastructure of how they build their homes is much different than what's legal, I guess, here in the US. It's just something that he'll just have to start all over again. Hopefully, I can help in some way."
Brandon LaFell, Wide Receiver
"Overall, we didn't anything we wanted to do today. We kicked ourselves in the tail. We got down early. We played hard, but got dominated in all phases of the game – offense, defense, special teams. We were out there and before you blinked it was 21-to-zero, it kind of throws away your game plan and you're playing from behind. You can't let guys just sit back in cover two all day and try to make you throw the ball. We just got away from our game plan. From here on out, we've got to learn from that. We've got to go out there, we've got to play from ahead and do the things coach teaches us to do all week."
"We just need to get to back and we need to stay together. There's no point fingers, no saying it's this person's fault, no saying it's this part of the team's fault. We need to stick together, believe in each other, lean on each other, don't listen to the noise outside of the locker room, find a way to win within this locker room, and just know whoever is going to help us win are the guys in this locker room with you."
On what's missing: "Consistency. Us playing consistent, whether it's offense, defense or special teams. One week, we come out really good on offense or really well on defense and the next week, we come out flat. We just need to be more consistent every snap, every series, every quarter. We just need to be more consistent. That's what separates the good teams from the average teams."
"We've definitely moved onto New England, especially when you lose like this. We definitely can't come out next week and play flat like this with a high powered offense like those guys got. With Tom (Brady) back, we've got to come out, score points, and play within the game. We can't get down 21 points. You run in this league playing like that."
AJ Green, Wide Receiver
"Like I said, consistency. We just shot ourselves in the foot a lot of times. They were just the better team today."
On if surprise about one catch in the first half: "I'm not surprised…But I've got to continue to work. I can't get frustrated and try to do the best I can."
"We're very close. I think there's some little things that we've got to clean up, you know, penalties and missed assignments. There's one guy here and another guy there. We've just got to do the little things."
"We got behind. When we got behind that big, they controlled the game. Hats off to them…they're a great team. Like I said, I've got to do a better job trying to find a way to get the ball and make plays even more."
On Dalton: "I see this guy every week. I know what's he's capable of. He never gets rattled. That's why he's a starting quarterback in this league."
#96 Carlos Dunlap (DE)
On the team's performance: "We are a veteran team. We know what we did wrong today. Unfortunately for us, we ran out of time. As you see, we got it going, but we didn't get it going until the 4th quarter. We can't do that. We are not the football team that played out there today. We have to play like us, and we didn't do that today."
On allowing big plays: "The plays they got on us were plays where we got caught out of position. Two of them were on me. That won't happen again."
On the run defense: "They did a good job mixing it up. That is why we got kind of caught on a couple of them. We just have to stay true to our assignment and alignment, and make our plays."
On the defense: "We are a veteran team so we know what we need to fix. We made it during the game, we just ran out of time. We have to start off how we finished today. We can't do that."
#90 Michael Johnson (DE)
On his observations on the defensive performance: "Very frustrating. We have to go back, take a look and make the corrections we need to make. Just keep working so that we can better next time in those situations. They did a good job today all around. We have to do better. And we will do better."
On the game: "No excuses. They did a better job than us today."
On the Cowboys running game: "They are not a power running team. They were running a lot of zone stuff. Broncos do it. Houston does it. They are not the only team that does it. They just did a better job executing that today than we did."
On the team's performance: "Of course we have to do better. And we will do better. That was unlike us. I feel like we did a lot better job in the second [half] than the first, we just can't spot them like that."
#56 Karlos Dansby (LB)
On next steps for the team: "We just took a loss. You have to bounce back from there. You have to learn from it. And you have to keep pressing. We have another game next week."
On allowing big plays: "We have to stop that. That is something we have to stop. We can't give up the home runs like that. That was, I want to say, discouraging. Not really discouraging, but we were just disappointed we gave up something like that. We will go back to the drawing board. They played a great game. I can't take away anything from them. They did a great job. They schemed us up well and they made some big plays."
On the long TD by Zeke Elliott: "They made a play. They were saving that one. I know they had to draw that one up, in the dirt almost. That was the perfect call, at the perfect time, and they made a play. … They caught us in the defensive look they hoped to catch us in. You can't do anything but take your hat off to them."
#24 Adam Jones (CB)
On the team's performance: "They beat us all the way around the board today. They were the better team. Great game plan, because we couldn't stop them anywhere. … We are going to have to do some gut checking. Everybody needs to take a deep look at themselves and figure out how each person can get better to help the team. That goes for me. That goes for anybody else you want to name. Because at the end of the day, when it is looking right, everybody is doing the right thing. Of course, we are going to lose some plays. But to come out here and get beat like this, this is embarrassing."
On the next steps: "I am an honest person. And I will start with myself. I will look at the film and I will be the first one to stand up and say I could have done this better. I know I missed the tackle early; I have to make the tackle. I think as a group, we need to set down with the coaches and put it up on the board. That is the only way we are get back to how it has normally been. I don't want to say too much. I am going to start with myself. We will meet, we will look at the film and see how we can get better."
On the Cowboys offensive line: "They were better than I thought. I take my hat off to them. Now I see why he has a hundred million dollars on his line. Those guys block their asses off. Like I said last week, some of the holes my daughter could have run through today. You have to take it on the chin and suck it up. Good players bounce back."
#99 Margus Hunt (DE)
On being back in Dallas after playing college football at SMU: "I have been looking forward to this game. We played Dallas in the preseason my rookie year. It is always fun to come back here. A bunch of my friends still are here. It is special."
