BENGALS HEAD COACH MARVIN LEWIS
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
October 5, 2014
ML: Alright, I think [in] all three phases we got outplayed tonight. No question about it. We didn't execute and make third downs, which were huge in the football game. The turnovers came at bad times for us, and you know, we didn't get off the field defensively on third down and that was the story of the football game. They were able to keep their drives alive and eventually, early on, work for the two touchdowns and then the field goals later in the game. But that was probably the biggest thing. We got some things right, did settle in and do OK, but not good enough. So we have got to go back to work.
Q: Marvin, those first two series, did you feel like they were just a step quicker?
ML: Not a step quicker, we've just got to settle in and play. You know, the tempo, we have to understand that and get going and be sure everyone gets on the same page. And we have some plays that we didn't get it executed as well as we should have.
Q: Was there any thought of making taking the tempo away and starting with the ball in this game?
ML: No sir.
Q: Are you surprised at how well they were able to run the ball?
ML: Well, I am surprised. We will see on tape why.
Q: Is that something that you were worried about coming into the game?
ML: Well, we figured they would try to run the football. And you know, we will see what we didn't do right.
Q: The inside has had such a tumultuous week, there's been so much [inaudible]. Are you fearful of that?
ML: Well, I can't be fearful; it is not in my control. All I can do is control what we can do and we didn't play well enough to win the game tonight.
Q: Let's see how you guys respond now…
ML: That's exactly right, Tom.
Q: These kinds of games have happened a little earlier in the NFL, and there have been a lot of them. Big spreads, big differences in the game, is there a reason it's been happening more and more?
ML: I have no idea. I know if you turn the ball over and you don't make any third downs, you have a chance to have this happen to you as we saw. You know, there was a 14-point swing there very quickly after we scored a touchdown. And we were in good position, and we have a 14-point swing where we don't stop the drive, then we fumble the kickoff and when we get in the football game, then we are back out of it again. Or at least we have the look that we are back out of it.
Q: Marvin, at 20 to 10, you had them backed up at the 14, did you think the way you turned things around, that you had a chance to make a stand and were going to make a stand?
ML: I'm sorry, I can't remember right now, you know, those things. Again, I said, after we scored the touchdown, we were back in the football game. I don't know if that was where it was 20 to 10 or not.
Q: Were you surprised about how you guys came out?
ML: Well, we came out to the game fine, they just scored. They scored a touchdown, Butch. That's all.
Q: They scored two.
ML: They scored two, we didn't score any. We had a chance and we didn't score, we missed a field goal. We had third down, we didn't convert. We moved the ball right down the field as well and we didn't convert on third down. And you know, we had some penalties, some pre-snap penalties that hurt us on offense early in the game. And those things set you back.
Q: You guys hadn't really been challenged so much this year, 48 seconds is all you guys have trailed coming into this game. How much did the lack of adversity set you back?
ML: You know, you know you are going to face adversity in the season. So you aren't going to sit around and be psychologists about that. We've got to play through anything that happens.
Q: What did you take from Andy Dalton's night?
ML: Well, again we had some balls we had to make. He made some good throws, but he made some throws and the ball got out. We had some balls we've got to keep on the field of play, give us a chance all the time. And I think that's important. You know, we dropped a touchdown in whatever quarter that was and we ended up settling for a field goal there. So, you know, there's good things and we've just got to keep playing and go back to work.
BENGALS QUARTERBACK ANDY DALTON
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
October 5, 2014
Q: What were some of the challenges tonight – specifically the matchup of Darrelle Revis on A.J. Greene?
AD: I think the biggest thing was that we got down early. We knew we were going to get their best, especially after the game that they had last week. Unfortunately for us, we got down early and we tried to come back, but we weren't able to do enough. At the end of the day, that's the story of the game.
Q: You had some throws there early… do you think you would have liked to have them back, like the one to Giovani Bernard?
AD: I felt like I had to get that out a little bit sooner and he got hit on his route. Obviously, yes, I'd like to have that one back. I wish I would have hit that one, but it didn't happen that way. We've got to find ways to get down there and score. At the end of the day, we didn't make enough plays to be in this game.
Q: You mentioned getting down early. How much did that kind of change your game plan? Did it throw a lot of what you wanted to do off?
AD: It was still 14-0 in the first quarter, so you can't completely change the game plan at that point because there is just still so much game left. We tried to stick to the plan as much as we could, but at the end of the day, the more we got down, the more we had to throw it and do certain things. Yeah, we did have one plan going in and we weren't able to stick to it the whole game because of the way the score was.
Q: Revis has been playing a lot of zone early in the season here in New England. Did you anticipate getting man coverage on A.J. tonight?
AD: Yeah, I mean we figured, there had been times when Revis stayed on one side and there have been times when he's flipped, but just because he was on A.J. didn't mean we weren't going to try to throw to A.J. because A.J is really good. I didn't feel like A.J. matched up with anybody and so we got a lot of looks there that we thought we were going to get. We just didn't make enough plays.
Q: A.J. was saying that overall, not just on him, but overall the rhythm felt a little bit off with the offense tonight. Did you kind of feel that as well?
AD: We had opportunities; we had chances. You can't turn the ball over. I said earlier, [that] I wish I could have had some throws back – you can't have drops – there are so many things that can go on in the game. You've got to find ways to make the plays and we didn't make them.
Q: When Devin McCourty went down and Revis was out momentarily you guys seemed to go right after those positions once they got their backups in. Was that something you guys saw or was that just coincidental?
AD: I mean it's a little bit of both. We knew that Revis wasn't going to be on A.J., but there's no telling that if he wasn't out there the play would have changed. We had a good play call with what they were playing and made plays.
Q: Is it a sickening feeling just not to play your best again as a team on a primetime stage?
AD: Yeah, I mean obviously you want to come out and play your best. It's not like we were just playing some nobody – we were playing a really good team. You're on the road in a tough environment and you've got to come to play and if you don't it turns out how it did and so, at the end of the day, this is just one game. We're still on top in the division and we've got everything on top of us, so we'll be ready to go next week.
Q: Was it difficult to have a bye week so early especially after you guys got off to such a good start?
AD: We've had a bye week later on in the season ever since I've been here and so this one is early – who's to say it is tough having it so early? I don't think that the bye week was the reason for the way that we came out today and played the way we did. I think just at the end of the day, there weren't enough plays made and I keep saying it, but that's the truth to it.
Q: You guys haven't been down much this season until obviously tonight. How do you use this as a learning lesson and help you guys moving forward?
AD: You've got to take advantage of opportunities when you get down, you've got to find ways to even it up, and maybe if you don't even it up, you've got to find ways at the end of the day to make it a game or win a close one. There is a lot of stuff that we can learn from this. We'll go and we'll watch the tape. On all phases of the game, we will watch the tape and learn from it.
Q: Do you feel like there was an opportunity lost? That there is kind of a vacuum at the top of the AFC and you guys had a chance to take control?
AD: Yeah, but it's still early. We've played four games. There's still a lot of time for that to happen. At the end of the day, this is just one game, it's one loss, but we've got to learn from it, we've got to get better from it and we have to move forward.
