POSTGAME QUOTES
Carolina Panthers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Cincinnati Bengals
Head Coach Marvin Lewis
Cincinnati Bengals
Game Summary
I think the the thing is that's a football game we had every opportunity to get it done and finish the thing out – a lot of opportunity. We gave up too many opportunities today with the turnovers. Gave them good field position too often and they capitalized on it. We didn't get enough. We didn't make the ball bounce our way and create enough of that. We have to do a better job of assignment football. We knew we'd be tested with that and that seemed to be the difference. We had a difficult time with stopping the drives there in the second quarter. We could settle down on defense, played a little better in the second half in that situation, but when we've got a chance to get a couple of turnovers and we don't make them…defensively we obviously gave it up too many times today.
Difference in run defense today versus last two weeks?
This looked different, this kind of run defense today and we just have to play assignments.
Late interception on pass from Andy Dalton to John Ross?
I'm not sure (what he was seeing).
Concern for A.J. Green going down?
No he wasn't able to finish. If he was able to finish, A.J. would go in there and finish.
Talk about Christian McCaffrey
They do a good job with him in their offense.
Will A.J. Green play next week?
I'm not sure.
Just one of those games where the ball bounced the other way?
No. We didn't make any bounces go our way. We had opportunity and we've got to make them bounce our way. We've got to win on third down early in the game. We've got to understand that. We got the second drive and they got the ball for a touchdown. We got a run off third down in there, and then later on we've got to make sure we stay gaps on some of the things that they're doing trying to create different looks for their quarterback. He did a nice job.
What could have been done differently against Cam Newton?
I can't tell you that right now. We didn't play well enough to beat Cam.
Surprised at your defense today?
Again, this is a different style of offense and attack and you've got to adjust and morph and play it and make sure we stay sound in it and play it all the time. You've got all three options and we have to do a good job throughout the football game. We had moments where we played it perfectly. Then we had others where we didn't.
What changed after good first drive?
I don't know what happened – I can't remember what happened in the first drive. We did go down and score a touchdown, but…did a nice job on that one third down I think in the drive and we converted it.
Quarterback Andy Dalton
Cincinnati Bengals
Carolina's defense
Yeah they are a good team, a good defense. For us, we had opportunities, we just didn't take advantage of them, we didn't do enough to win.
What happened on the third interception intended for John Ross?
I threw it, tried to give him (John Ross) a chance, I don't know exactly what happened but I feel like for me I have to smart with the ball. You never want to turn the ball over and we had way too many turnovers today.
How much of that was on Ross to fight for the ball a little bit more?
I think everybody is going to look at the tape and see what we all could do different. That's the thing with the tape we have to go look at it, see what we could do better and see the plays that we left out there and fix them.
Fumble overturned
I was still on the ball. I knew that I still had it in my hand when I got hit and it went forward. I thought that's what the ruling was going to be after the replay. I felt like it was in my hand long enough and that it was going forward. That obviously wasn't how I wanted to throw it but when getting hit, I had the ball in my hand.
Did you get an explanation of A.J. Green's second catch that was ruled incomplete?
I thought A.J. (Green) caught it but I don't know what happened. I don't know why it got called incomplete because it looked like he had it inbounds and when he was going out of bounds I thought he still had it.
On A.J. Green's toe-touch catch, is that about as good as you have ever seen?
It is impressive; I mean he is so good at it. There are not very many people that can do that, if there is anybody else that can make those type of plays, then yeah but it doesn't surprise me. I feel like on the throw either he's going to have a chance to make a play on it or it's going to end up out of bounds, for him he made an unbelievable catch. How he got his feet down, I don't know.
It is a "next man up" kind of league, how much does it hamstring you guys to lose A.J. Green?
He is the best receiver in the league and when you have him on your team then he's not there anymore, obviously it changes things but that's why you have depth, that's why you have other guys that have to step up and play; that's just how this league works.
Even with A.J. Green out of the game, you were still able to move the ball. Were you pleased with your tight ends?
I felt good out there, even when he's out there I feel like we just have to trust our guys to make plays. We have a lot of talent on this team, even with him out we feel like we can still move the ball and do everything that we want to do offensively.
Talk about Tyler Boyd
He did a great job with reacting once I was out of the pocket. I think for him at that point it just ends up backyard football, go get open. He did a great job twice getting open on two big plays.
The first touchdown Tyler Boyd said he was still running his route.
I think he reacted once he moved. He was running his route but then he reacted to it, great play.
Tyler Boyd seems to have an instinct to go to the right place
I think that's him, he understands the game really well. He understands what we are trying to do, it is natural for him, and it showed with the way he played today.
Are some losses harder to take than others?
Every loss is different, every game is different, and for us we had our chances in this game and at the end of the day we just didn't make enough plays.
Talk about Luke Kuechly
He is a good player. He is one of the best linebackers in this league. He is smart and has really good instincts. He is physical; he is everything you would want in a linebacker.
A game of inches
Unfortunately, tipped balls don't find the ground too often, other than sitting up in the air; it's just the way it works. We weren't able to recover the fumble, they were able to get on the tipped ball, it didn't go our way today.
Wide Receiver A.J. Green
Cincinnati Bengals
Thoughts on Carolina Panthers defense
We killed ourselves with three turnovers. It's nothing they really did, we moved the ball very well. You are going to have games like this. That is one thing about this team, we are not going to put our heads down. We knew if we did not have those turnovers, we would have been in the game.
Thoughts on it being an offensive shootout?
Our job is to score points, and that is all we look at on the offensive side of the ball. If they can't stop us, they can't win. We are out there trying to score points.
Thoughts on Tyler Boyd?
I have seen him grow from a boy to a man and he is playing unbelievable. I wish I had still been out there, because I feel like we would have had a better chance to win. It was tough to sit on the sideline and watch my brother struggle.
Defensive End Carlos Dunlap
Cincinnati Bengals
Thoughts on Cam Newton
You have to be disciplined. They caught us in a couple bad positions and made a play. This is the NFL and their players are going to make plays too. You have to eliminate as many of those you can. We did not do a good job of that today.
Thoughts on the loss
We had our opportunities. We could have done a lot of little things better. We are going to see it on tape, adjust to it and take that with us in the future. We are going to acknowledge the things that we could have done better, let it go and move on to the Falcons.
Thoughts on being close to getting the big play
We felt like we were close. I hope it looked that way too. They did a lot of little things that worked to their benefit until they came away with the victory.
Running Back Giovani Bernard
Cincinnati Bengals
Thoughts on missed opportunities
It was just missed opportunities. That is the biggest thing we took away from it. When those opportunities come, we have to capitalize on them.
Thoughts on the game
We always feel like we are in the game. We went toe-to-toe with them. They are a great team on the other side.
Thoughts on Cam Newton
I don't know, I don't play defense. I can't really say too much on that. He's Cam Newton and he's a good player.
Wide Receiver Tyler Boyd
Cincinnati Bengals
Thoughts on his performance
I wanted to go out there and do what the game plan was. I went out there and did exactly as I was coached and had a really big game for myself, but I really wanted the win.
Thoughts on Andy Dalton scrambling and finding you
We always work on the scramble drill. When I see him rolling out, I have to find the open space on the field. Andy (Dalton) did a great job escaping the pocket, and finding his wide-open target.
Thoughts on an offensive shootout game
We knew it was going to be a shootout. Both of our offenses were dynamic. We knew what Cam (Newton) had going on with them and we are rolling. I thought we turned the ball over too many times. In this league, whoever protects the ball and moves it, is going to win.
Tight End Tyler Eifert
Cincinnati Bengals
Thoughts on offensive game plan
I think we had a good rhythm there in the first half. For whatever reason, we would go backwards and kill the drive. We have to find ways to overcome those things when they happen and avoid them in the first place.
Thoughts on preparing for the Carolina Panthers
It is not a whole lot different. I think we had a good game plan going in. It is just up to us to execute it and I think we did at times, but we could not finish sharp. When we got it going, we would go backwards with a penalty or something. We have to find a way to sustain those drives and find a way to get points.
Missed opportunities
You have to make those plays if you are going to win in the National Football League. It is always going to be tight like it was today. We have the guys in this room that can make those plays and will make them down the stretch. Today we just couldn't get it done for whatever reason.
How big of a blow today losing Green today?
It's part of the NFL guys. You've got to have other guys get ready to go, and we've just got to step up and guys have got to get in position to make plays.
Just one of those games where the ball bounced the other way
No. We didn't make any bounces go our way. We had opportunity and we've got to make them bounce our way. We've got to win on third down early in the game. We've got to understand that. We got the second drive and they got the ball for a touchdown. We got a run off third down in there, and then later on we've got to make sure we stay gaps on some of the things that they're doing trying to create different looks for their quarterback. He did a nice job.
What could have been done differently against Cam Newton?
I can't tell you that right now. We didn't play well enough to beat Cam.
Surprised at your defense today?
Again, this is a different style of offense and attack and you've got to adjust and morph and play it and make sure we stay sound in it and play it all the time. You've got all three options and we have to do a good job throughout the football game. We had moments where we played it perfectly. Then we had others where we didn't.
What changed after good first drive?
I don't know what happened – I can't remember what happened in the first drive. We did go down and score a touchdown, but…did a nice job on that one third down I think in the drive and we converted it.
