Quotes from:

Zac Taylor

Head coach

What are your overall thoughts on tonight's game?

"I'm really proud of our guys. We've sat in this locker room for the last four weeks and talked about it. The guys are putting in the right work. They're about the right stuff. We have the right people in the locker room. When you get to enjoy that feeling ... I know it's just an early (October) feeling — this isn't December/January, but it's still meaningful. And these guys earned it, because they've just kept plugging along and they've known that we're close in these games. That's a good football team. So, to be 2-0 in the division — right in the thick of everything that we've been talking about with another home game coming up and a chance to get healthy these next couple days is ... I'm just really, really proud of the guys and the effort, and I'm happy to get a win."

What are thoughts on Joe Flacco's performance tonight?

"Outstanding. Outstanding. Outstanding. Joe was outstanding. I mean, how many drives did we score? Might've been six of the last seven drives? Maybe seven of the last eight? So, it was seven of eight. Really, early on, we had some drops and some quirky stuff happened, that prevented a score there. I just thought his performance was outstanding. Very, very calm. Very collected. He led us in a two-minute drive to go in the game with a huge go-ball to Tee (Tee Higgins). It gave those guys a chance to go make some plays. I'm impressed with his performance. I thought our offensive line played outstanding. And that defensive line has been wreaking havoc the last couple weeks. All the film we've watched on all these other teams' goal line gave him a great shot. Our tight ends did an unbelievable job in the run game as well. And everybody stepped up forcing yards after the catch. Collectively on offense it was great. The defense getting that big stop at the end ... I know it's the Hail Mary, but I've seen Aaron Rodgers throw a lot of Hail Mary's inside for touchdowns. I was glad they were able to prevent that."

You've seen a lot of great performances from Ja'Marr Chase. Where does this game rank?

"He just comes up so big in those moments and he's so hard to bring down. It's not even the catches sometimes, it's the yards after the catch. So, every time he gets the ball in his hands, it energizes the whole stadium because everybody thinks he's about to score. And I thought all of those guys stepped up. You ask about Ja'Marr. He had a franchise record with 16 catches in a game of this magnitude. That's spectacular."

Zac what were your emotions when they flipped the ball to Pat Freiermuth for the touchdown to put them up, and then you all flipped the score?

"Yeah, we did. That one drive, we got a little stagnant. I wanted to continue to be aggressive and throw the football. You're stuck between running the clock and still being aggressive. We wanted to be aggressive. It didn't go our way. We had to punt. And again, I just thought it was a great job by those guys getting it together on the last drive."

Did you have a call in for someone to go down there at the end of the fourth quarter when you were in field goal range?

"Yes, we did. Yes, we did. Yes, we did."

For the last couple of weeks, you've been talking about getting the guys going. How happy are you with their energy tonight?

"Really happy. You can just feel the energy from our O-line, our tight ends and our backs. They all did a great job. And we called a lot more runs, and we spit them out to Ja'Marr (Chase) for some major yardage there. And I can't wait to see what the yardage was on all of those run plays. We threw a touchdown on one for sure, and several others were working through some run alerts, and Ja'Marr had some great production there. The statistics won't say run plays on those, but for us, that's coming off the run game. They have to defend it, and they give us opportunities. That's a great way to get Ja'Marr easy touches where the line doesn't have to pass protect. So, for us, that's even more like rushing yardage."

How big is this win?

"It is huge. We really needed this win. We needed this. It's been too long since we've won. And so, when you're fighting for all these things that we fight for, and these guys just keep coming out, as a coach you just keep sticking with it. I see it coming, but you need the results. And so, we have the results. There were no nonbelievers in that locker room. We knew what we're capable of, and we can see it. We just had to put it together. But, it's significant to find a divisional win and be 2-0 in the division right now. Now we are going into a long weekend and then we have a home game coming up. Just a great opportunity for our team to capitalize on this."

When you resigned Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason is this the type of game you were thinking about?

"One hundred percent. One hundred percent. The stress it causes the other team in terms of their coverage makes it a constant chess match. The entire game of who's-on-who, who's-doubling-who, where are the match ups? Same thing — we deal with (Alex) Highsmith and (T.J.) Watt, and all their guys have to deal with our receivers. What's the plan there? They just stepped up for us. They stepped up for us. And it was just fun to watch."

Is this what you hoped for when you traded for Joe Flacco?

"Yeah. His experience. He has 18 years of experience playing these games. We had a short week playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game that we needed to have. It's easy for him ... because he's putting in the work. He's just so experienced in this situation. You gain a lot of confidence from that, because he goes out there and it's not too big (for him). I have to enunciate my formations better because some of them he's hearing for the first time. And so, I have to do a better job enunciating. I think it's my Oklahoma accent. It had him a couple times. I thought he did a great job managing the game."

On the deep ball to Tee Higgins, what led to the decision to take that shot?

"It's hard. You watch around, and you're going to get in that situation, and you're in field goal range, and that's an area we study a lot. How do you want to approach that? We were in this situation with Baltimore last year. It's a tie game, so there's a little less pressure to kick a field goal. But we just felt like we needed to be aggressive and get as many yards we could, and Tee did a great job. Noah (Fant) was standing by me during the two-minute warning. I told him to go tell the huddle this is a slide of five situation. And he communicated to Tee, and Tee did a great job. To think in that moment, you win in a one-on-one battle and you catch it, it's easy just to walk in, well, then now you're up. We're going to go for two ... They (the Steelers) are going to have a chance to go win it. So, I thought it was a good heads up play by Tee."

You preached about complimentary football, and that being your goal in the last four weeks. You found it tonight with two big interceptions ...

"Yeah, we absolutely did. That allowed us to overtake the game there and play with the lead until they scored that last touchdown. But those two picks were just (great). Did you know (DJ) Turner told me it was coming? He walked on the field and said, 'We got you. A turnover is coming." J.B. (Jordan Battle) had one as well. I haven't seen DJ's yet. I don't know how he came up with that ball, but it was really impressive. We needed it by both of those guys. Outstanding job by those guys."

How important were Chase Brown's 27-yard and 37-yard runs in the first half. Did they change the complexion of the game?

"It does, because it inflates you and deflates them. We tried to find as many ways as we could to keep feeding them (the running backs), and I thought those guys did a great job blocking. Samaje (Samaje Perine) had some good, tough runs too. I don't know what the stats are. It doesn't really matter. He had some critical short-yardage; red-zone runs that were big for us."

Did you call for the Flacco keeper?

"The issue we have sometimes on some of our long formations is trying to process. We didn't have that play wristbanded. We were not aligned correctly. I don't know why. It was a zone read that never in a million years we would keep. The last one we kept was maybe (Ryan) Finley against the Steelers here in 2020. (Joe) Burrow had one I think a couple of years ago, but I was shocked (by Flacco). I saw the back get hit, so I thought the play was dead. And the next thing you know, there is a really tall human running for the first down. And then I just had to get my next call ready."

Before getting to know Joe Flacco more personally over the last week and a half, did you think he would be capable of a game like this, this quick?!

"This is what his skill set is. He is able to stay back there and throw the ball and manage the game. That's what he's done for a long time. He's won a lot of games, played in a lot of playoff games, and played in a lot of huge AFC North divisional battles of this magnitude. So, I absolutely thought that he was capable of this."

With the amount of targets that Ja'Marr Chase had, did you keep calling plays for him or did Joe Flacco know to keep throwing it to him?

"Our whole game plan is trying to get him the ball every which way. That's why Tee (Higgins) isn't getting the targets but having Tee over there, opposite of him or on the same side of him forces teams to not play one-on-one all game over there or the ball is going to go there. And they have great corners. Sometimes Ja'Marr's production is Ja'Marr, but it's also the other guys that we have that put pressure on the defense. They have to be responsible for it because we'll throw it out to everybody. I mean, we have double-double (coverage on Chase and Higgins), and Dre (Andrei Iosivas) runs down the middle of the field on a play we worked on Wednesday. We have one jog-through rep of it and we have the same coverage we hoped we were going to get, and Dre comes up big. That was a huge play in the game. I think it was early in the second half. That was a great third-down suggestion by him, to take advantage there and it paid off big for us."

You went out of your way to talk about how well the offensive line played. You had Jalen River with Lucas Patrick. Did you feel like they gave you your best chance to win?

"I think with especially Dylan (Fairchild) coming off of injury, we had no live practices this week. For a rookie against Cam Hayward the whole game — it's just not the right thing to do. So, he'll get more rest. We're going to be better off for it. Same with Lucas — more rest. We'll determine what role he has, whether that's a swing back up or we trust him to go in there and play. He was our opening day starter, so we have depth there in the interior that we're excited about."

Was it nice to have Joe Burrow on the sideline?

"Yeah, it's just good to see him. I always see him in there. I'm not used to seeing him on the field. But it's great to see Joe. He's had a great attitude, so it's good to see him."

What led to Cam Taylor-Britt being inactive?

"We just have other DBs we're going to give a shot to."

Your fans are out there chanting 'Thank you Cleveland.' Do you think Joe Flacco proved Mike Tomlin right?

"I'm just happy. I don't care about anybody else. I'm happy that our fans are happy. Today, I'm driving in. It's probably 3:48 p.m. and my normal path is blocked off. So, I have to do a U-turn and go back around the stadium and there's about 20 fans. I don't want to use the word older, but they were older than me. They were all in clean white jerseys. They were ready to go. I just knew our fans were going to turn up for us. I mean, I was sitting right there and I think it was like Fourth (Street) and Vine (Street). I can't remember what the intersection is. I'm trying to turn left, and I just see all these fans in the white-out jerseys and it got me fired up right then. I just couldn't wait to get out here. And then the crowd was outstanding. I told you; we're going to get back to this feeling of getting these stadiums full, people having hope, cheering this team on, being proud to cheer the team on. We're going to get there. We're not there yet. We're 3-4. We have a ways to go. But this is a good step in the right direction of showing everybody what we know we're capable of."

Did you think Mike Tomlin was critical on Monday because he knew what Joe Flacco could do from years of playing against him?

"I'm not going to speculate on his feelings. It's a good football team. We're going to see them again. It feels like every time we play Pittsburgh, it's like this. What are your calls going to be in two-minute (situations)? We spent a lot of time today talking about that because it's a short week. And so, this we do on Thursdays. But players stepped up and did a great job. Coaches did a great job preparing them this week. I'm proud of the coaches too."

**JOE FLACCO**

Quarterback

How fun was tonight?

"Man, it's a lot of fun. And obviously, it's a lot of fun toward the end of the game when you're getting ready to go, but yeah, this is what we do it for, is games like that. It came down to the wire. We know it's going to, and really, really happy about how the guys just stayed with it for the full 60 minutes. And, man, our offensive line was going today, you know? We're running the football, protecting — doing a lot of things that we wanted to do."

What is going through your mind when they take the lead late and you're getting the ball back with essentially the last two minutes in the game to go?

"Listen, you gotta — this is such an emotional game — but sometimes, especially as a quarterback, you gotta take the emotions and the want-to, like looking ahead of the results, you gotta just take that out of play and just go play football. And, hey, we've got Ja'Marr (Chase) on an out route and they're off of him — just throw it. (It's) just the simple thing — it just goes back to the basics and not worrying about the result in the moment. Just playing the play getting our guys in position to go win it."

How much fun was tonight?

"That was a lot of fun, but your mind's not necessarily thinking that way for the full 60 minutes. But obviously the last seven seconds — but even that, there's three seconds they got a Hail Mary off. I've been through all of these to wait until that clock hits zero to be excited. Listen, I love doing this. I've been doing this for such a long time. When you're out there with the guys and you're doing what you want to do and you're having success, and you're looking in each other's eyes — you get that feeling of just bonding with somebody else. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot more fun when that clock hits zero and you've gotten the job done."

Did a game like the one you had tonight open your eyes as to just what Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins can do?

"Last week, it opened my eyes, just with the simple things. Not the fact that they went for a hundred yards, obviously. But you could see it. Then today, what I got to see was just how a defense has to treat those guys, and if you don't treat them a certain way, they can hurt you, and if you do treat him a certain way, well, maybe we have some other guys that can get the job done. Today, I think I got to see just the problems they create in general. Last week — I said it earlier this week — last week, we didn't do anything crazy, but you could see it. Those guys are different, and it's pretty cool to be able to throw to them."

Have you ever targeted a guy 23 times in a game before?

"You tell me. I don't think so. We threw the ball 47 times and probably dropped back a couple more. At the end of the first half, we just (repeatedly called an) out route. I don't think it was anything crazy. Pretty simple stuff. Underneath, getting them one-on-one. That's how we drew it up and it worked out."

Have you ever run the ball on a read-option play like that?

"Yeah, well that really was kind of a broken play. We just didn't line up right. It wasn't really a true read option. But I've done a few of those. Probably in my first three years, I did a few of those in certain situations. But it's been a while. It kind of just happened, so I was like, 'Alright, now how can I find somewhere to get down and not get taken out by one of these guys?'

In your 11 days here, when did you realize you could have this type of success in a game this quickly?

"You're not thinking about it in that sense. I think you're always wanting to go do that, but I think what being here in this situation has done for me, is it allows you to recalibrate and not worry about those things. It allows you to just focus on the basics, and it's a good reminder that doing that is what leads to success and consistency, so I think the bigger thing going forward is just continuing to remind myself of that."

Zac Taylor said there were some communication issues with maybe his accent?

"Well, yeah. Some of these words are so new to me, and when you don't get a chance — I honestly felt like this week was probably a little bit harder than last week just because it's such a short week. You're still putting in a full game plan. You don't get to hear the play as much, so there were certain things like that (where) I could picture everything, but there were certain things with the formations and things like that that you're hearing it for the first couple of times. And even though you've read the play million times, when you hear it, it just wasn't hitting my brain right. So, there were a few of those, and we were joking on the sideline — anytime that happened and we broke the huddle, and it was like, 'I don't know if we're right here,' that play hit. So, we got lucky tonight in that sense."

What did you see on the last pass to Tee Higgins in the fourth quarter?

"Like one-on-one, the safety didn't really — maybe he was cheating his way a little bit, but not really. I knew I had a conversion to him and there was a chance to basically end the game. I feel like they were kind of playing back-shoulder (coverage), so the one adjustment he made there with me and just (threw) it up a little bit more and let him kind of bend into it. I think he got a good release so I could kind of see that throw happening as I was doing it."

Following the four-game losing streak, could you sense what this win meant tonight?

"Oh, for sure. That was an awesome sideline, an awesome locker after the game. But at the same time, you've got to give those guys a lot of credit. It's not easy to lose four straight games and keep your head into it, so the fact that they've been able to do this and get to the point where we got tonight and beat a good football team is also impressive."

Given that the win came against that team in this environment, can you see the potential of this team in full?

"Yeah, you sure hope so. You hope you can come in here and play well and you always want to, especially when you get guys that are good at playing football. You want to go show them like, 'Hey man, we're going to do some good things.' You hope that they feel that way, but now to go out there and have done it for like the last six quarters, I think it's going to give us a lot of confidence and hopefully we can carry that over and use it to our advantage."

What gives you such trust in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in big situations?

"I told you early on when I got here, if you can't get on the same page with those kind of guys, then you know, what are you doing? They're pretty special. You can kind of read their body language. They get open, so it's easier to throw to them."

Has Zac Taylor done anything to get you up to speed so quickly? What is your impression of the work he's done with you?

"The biggest thing is he's been patient, so even things like tonight where maybe I wasn't hearing it right, wasn't calling it completely right for a handful of plays, it wasn't like he was getting bothered by it. He worked with me, he was patient with me and he allowed me to just go play football. I think he saw that even though maybe this one little thing was off, then I was able to just forget about it once the ball is snapped. So, I would say just that, patience. Coaches that have done it like he has, they call really good games (and) put great game plays together. They want to put all kinds of good stuff in there. He's tried to fight that urge a little bit and then been patient with me."

Did you ever expect to have this feeling again 11 days ago before being traded here?

"It's a good question. It felt like I might not, to be honest with you, so it's pretty special."

Does that sink in when it's a night like tonight?

"Yeah, for sure. When I talk to my family and we're laughing about this, yeah, that'll be a reminder because I've got so many people at home. My kids, obviously, my wife has been doing this with me for so long now, my wife and my siblings and my dad and my mom. We're all still so invested in this. When you talk to those people, probably one of their biggest emotions is probably relief, like, 'Oh, my gosh, the game's over. We don't have to watch that anymore and hang on the edge of our seat,' and all that. Also, that turned into excitement. I can't wait to talk to my wife tonight and just hearing her voice and all those things, and talking to those people reminds you of how special this is."

What do you hope this 11-day stretch teaches your kids?

"Well, I think one of the biggest things is that hopefully they'll be willing to take on challenges. I think it would have been easy to maybe say, 'I don't want to do that, but you want me to start this week, I don't know'. That's the thing (with) taking some challenges, you can't worry about the outcome. I see myself as a competitor. I see myself as a football player. That's what I do. That's the challenge — 'OK, fine, let me take it on.' I see myself as a football player first. No hesitation. 'Let's go. Let's go do this.' Whatever you see yourself as, there's a reason for that and you shouldn't hesitate when you think something may look a little scary or anything like that. You should jump in and do it."

You've played Mike Tomlin the Steelers so many times over the years, but what was this experience like?

"Listen, I have so much respect for Mike and the battles that we've had in Pittsburgh and Baltimore. I played him last year in Indianapolis. I love playing them. I didn't really feel that way to begin with. I didn't love going into Heinz Field. And you know, they did that my rookie year. They beat us three times. But those games against those guys, in my career, those games have been different than others and just the physicality and the energy. Mike has been doing it so long and has those guys ready to play every single week for so long now. Nothing but respect for him. He gets those guys ready, and I love going against them. It's the wins and the losses — I love all the games. Honestly, when I tell stories, a lot of the great (ones) come from some of the losses in the bad games you had and with him and them. There's plenty of those."

Was there a different feel to this one?

"For sure. I mean, yeah, but at the same time it felt familiar, like I've played so many night games against Pittsburgh. Very rarely would I go to Pittsburgh and play a day game. I was actually saying that the guys today — I don't know if I've ever played a night game here. You guys could probably check that, but I feel like every time we came here it was during the day. Maybe I've played a couple of night games. I don't know if I've ever played in a night game against Cincinnati in this stadium."

These used to be hostile confines and now there are people cheering your name during the final drive. How did that feel, for them to embrace you like that so quickly?

"Yeah, I turn it quickly. They turn it quickly. You're in it. I feel like that's what fans do. They want their football team to win, and it just so happens that I'm the guy right now that's behind the center. (It's) the same thing with players. Like, yeah, you're loyal to the guys that you're in the locker room with and you're loyal to the game of football. And you really enjoy playing in these cities. I feel so fortunate to have been able to now play in so many different cities and just see the different people and how they react. It gives you a new appreciation for these fans. I honestly never really loved coming here and playing. That was unbelievable tonight. (In the past), Cincinnati would kind of put it on us, I feel like, most of my career — especially when we came here. I didn't necessarily love here, but now I get to have a new perspective, at least for tonight. And the fans — even just around town, they've been great, saying, 'What's up,' or whatever. So, they're obviously very quick to forget and happy that we're going through this, and so am I."

**JA'MARR CHASE**

Wide Receiver

How cool is it to see Joe Flacco as a Bengal and winning for you guys now?

"It's honestly good having him here for us. The organization made a big jump for him and we believe in him, and we got him. So, he came in doing his thing, and he's showing out for us."

What did it mean for Joe Flacco to go right back to you after that play that was incomplete on the sideline, and then obviously the touchdown?

"Well, we had the next play in already when they said it was incomplete. So, we were in the middle of calling another play. And then we just called it again."

Joe Burrow has obviously gone to you time and time again in clutch situations. But tonight — 23 targets, and you had a team-record 16 catches. Did tonight feel different or special in any way?

"I didn't even know I had 16 (catches). I thought I had nine, if I'm being honest. It didn't feel like that many."

Why?

"I don't know. I'm not sure."

Are you surprised at all by the way Pittsburgh played you, since you've played them so many times. We've seen you do this to Baltimore, but we haven't really seen you do this to Pittsburgh. Did you see anything surprising?

"I got a lot of man (coverage). They doubled on third down, tried to mix it up a little. But no, they did exactly what we were expecting and hoping they'd do."

A lot of the time, three-point sharp shooters in basketball talk about when they're in a zone. What does it feel like when you're catching so many balls like you did tonight?

"I really can't tell you. I'm really just in the moment."

Two days ago you said that it felt like you guys were close to turning the corner and getting wins. What does it feel like to get this one?

"This is what I was talking about, man. We knew we were close. Last week, we felt like we just figured out about how we're going to go about Flacco, and just the offense period. I think today we showed what we're really capable of, and showed how prolific this offense really can be."

You thought you guys had a touchdown, but it got called back. Then you guys come back and get it. What was going through your mind at that point? Did you think you had the first touchdown?

" I mean, I knew I had it, but I didn't think I had it all the way because when I fell, it got stuck to my hip. But, you know in the NFL, every camera angle is every camera angle. They've got everything."

Thoughts on that next play?

"Just a little fade ball. He was a little handsy at the top —tried to get his hands off me at the last minute, and that's when the ball was in the air."

The first big game that both you and Tee Higgins have had this year. Is this what you thought might happen when you decided to re-sign here?

"This was supposed to happen, exactly, yeah."

How good does it feel to finally have that come after seven weeks in, especially in a game like this?

"It feels good, knowing that this is exactly what we preach about all the time. This is the reason why other teams go grab DBs to stop us. This is all we breathe as a receiving corps. Today was the day."

If that were you instead of Higgins catching that deep ball inside the 10, how hard would it have been to slide down?

"I would have slid. I would have slid."

Is it hard to do that?

"No. If you want to win, you're going to slide."

How vindicating was that for you all to go out and win against that retooled DB room?

"That's exactly what they were trying to do. But at the end of the day, you still have to stop everybody. We had Chase (Brown) in the backfield — we had a great running game. O-line did great in protection. Flacco did a great job just getting the balls out. Today was just an all-around offensive game."

How good did it feel to finally play with a lead for part of that game?

"It felt good. It got a little nerve-wracking at the end, knowing there's two minutes left and you got A-Rod (Aaron Rodgers) who throws Hail Mary's for a living. It got a little nervous at the end."

What went through your mind after they take the lead? You've had the lead the entire second half, they take the lead, you guys get the ball back. What did you think?

"That's what they pay us the money for. At the end of the day, we've got to make a play and make a play for the team. At the end of the day, that's why they've got us."

After last week, you had lost four straight. Zac Taylor said that you felt like they were close, there was a lot of positivity. How much does that message resonate over the course of the week as things have gotten tough over the years. Zac says it, how much does that matter to you all as you get through a week?

"It means a lot coming from him, but it comes from the players too, not just Zac. At the end of the day, the players know what it takes. We've got guys in there that are vocal, that are being leaders, that always speak up when we have situations like this."

How cool was it to see Joe Burrow on the sideline?

"I didn't even know he was coming to the game, if I'm being honest. At the end of the game I told him, 'I know you miss it brother, we miss you.' I know he's out there and wants to be out there, but it was good seeing him again."

How big is it to be 2-0 in the division?

"It's good. That means we are taking the right steps forward and we're on the right path."

Joe Flacco has only been here nine days. How have you built such good chemistry with him so far after you were sick last week and you had a short week this week?

"That's a great question. I don't know, man. We're not really throwing the ball to each other at practice either because this week was fast, walkthrough reps. Last week was a little off for me. Honestly, just coming in and being a veteran and just knowing the coverages and knowing what's his answer — I think that's his best reads."

Did you think this offense's success was possible this quickly since you guys got Joe Flacco?

"I think we knew it last week. We saw the opportunity last week."

You said they did what you wanted them to do. Pretty much Cover-2 and man coverage?

"Yeah, we knew they were going to put Joey (Porter Jr.) on Tee (Higgins) and Jalen (Ramsey) on me. We knew that, we were ready for it and we were going to take advantage of those opportunities."

On one of Chase Brown's long runs, you sprinted down the field and made a big block. A lot of star wide receivers wouldn't do that, why did you?

"I've got to give effort. I told Chase I've got to give him more effort on my run blocks, just because sometimes I don't expect him to cut back to my side and he does it the majority of the time, so I've got to give him effort more."

It's your ninth game with 150 receiving yards. You passed Jerry Rice for the most in a player's first five seasons. What's it like to what your name in that kind of conversation and pass a guy like Jerry?

"It's cool. I would never know what that is until you all tell me at the end of the day. It's a cool opportunity hearing it, but I've still got a long way to go. That's the goal, to go get a Super Bowl and a gold jacket."

Jerry Rice has got a ton of records. Is that something growing up that you thought about and the numbers he's put up in his career?

"No. If I'm being honest, no."

This was your second game with at least 14 catches this year. You said it felt like you had only eight or nine. Did it feel different compared to that Jacksonville game when you had 14?

"No, not really. The only game that I felt like I had a lot of (catches) was the Cardinals game (in 2023). That game and this game, it didn't really feel like I had a lot."

**Tee Higgins**

Wide Receiver

On the play near the end, you knew you didn't want to give the ball back to them, right?

"We knew we didn't want to give the ball back—it's a situation we work on. With Aaron Rodgers on the other side, that's just a smart play."

What happened on that play?

"It was one-on-one and Joe (Flacco) gave me a great ball."

What about on your touchdown?

"That was a slant and he fit it through the window between those two 'backers. That was a hell of a ball, and I was able to do the rest."

Talk about the quarterback sneak by Joe Flacco. Did you practice that?

"We practice it every week, no matter who we have at quarterback."

What about when Joe Flacco ran with the ball late in the fourth quarter?

"We were in the wrong formation, so he just took matters in his own hands and made a play. That's a smart quarterback. He's been doing it for a while."

Did it feel good to score a touchdown in the first half after starting slow in previous games?

"It felt good, obviously. I want to give a shout out to our O-line. They got the running game going. Once we got the running game going, it opened up the passing game."

**CHASE BROWN**

Running Back

You were able to run the ball better tonight. What was the key?

"The whole line was phenomenal tonight, the way they were picking up the plugs and creating space. That's all I need — to get to the line of scrimmage, and I can do the rest. I was able to pop a couple of big ones today. It feels pretty good. It's nice to carry that momentum. Let's keep on going."

What about Joe Flacco at quarterback and the level he's played at?

"He's been playing football longer than I've been playing myself, like Pee Wee's to now. He's played in the NFL that whole time. He brings a different level of experience, poise, attitude, and just plays at a high level."

What about the other Chase, Ja'Marr Chase?

"He plays at a high level every week. That's what you do when you're good at football."

**JORDAN BATTLE**

Safety

Talk about your interception ...

"When he (Aaron Rodgers) threw the ball, I didn't know he was going to throw it that far, but he launched it and I thought 'Let me get back, let me make sure.'"

Are you amazed at what Joe Flacco has been able to do?

"You know what, I can't say I'm amazed. Obviously, he's been in the game for a while. He's a guy that knows how to get the ball out to his teammates. The whole (offensive) line did a fantastic job in the passing game, and especially the run game. It's good to have Chase Brown have over 100 yards."

I know you guys work on situational football. Talk about Tee Higgins going down with that slide with less than two minutes to go when he easily could have had a touchdown. That's an unselfish play ...

"Yeah, especially when they have a quarterback like that on the other side of the ball. That was a smart play—a team play. That gave them only 11 seconds after the field goal to score."

How crucial was this win?

"Very crucial. It was a critical game, a divisional game. We're 2-0 in the division now. We are going into a mini-bye with 10 days off to get healthy and get ready for the Jets."

**EVAN MCPHERSON**

Kicker

hat has Joe Flacco meant for this team?

"I love Joe. I love his attitude and what he brings to the team. He's done a really good job connecting with guys on really short notice. He's playing really well, and he's fun to watch. Watching him and Aaron Rodgers play football — I know Aaron Rodgers is on the other team, but it's fun."

But it's always more fun when you win ...

"Correct."

We can talk about the quarterbacks, but it's still Bengals vs. Steelers, right?

"Yeah, they're always great games when they come down to the wire. It's really exciting games. It's fun to play divisional games like this."

How important was this game?

"If you win your division, you're automatically in the playoffs. We're 2-0 in this division. That's what our main focus is, to win the division. We just want to keep trending upwards. Our main focus is to build off this and come back stronger next week and put a good game together."