VS.

POSTGAME QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 23, 2007

Bengals-Seahawks Gameday

Initial comments:
"That is a difficult football game to lose there at the end. I think in all three phases, and I told our guys this, we need to execute and play better. We do a lot of very good things, and we have some things that are getting us beat right now. We have to take care of the football. We have to be able to execute in the kicking game. And were giving up an explosive play. And those make a big difference. We did a lot of good things today in the three phases. I think all-in-all, the thing on why were not sitting here with a W, is that in critical points, we had opportunities and we didn't get it done."

Q: Can you talk about any team injuries:
"I can't tell you that right now."

Q: Did one play hurt you more than any other:
"We don't win or lose by one segment. And we allowed the explosive play in the first half. It makes a difference in the football game. We allowed them to go down there and score at the end, and obviously when we allow them to score a touchdown and we allow a touchdown, that's not a good thing. We had an opportunity on the third down (play) to take it to a fourth down and we don't get it done. And that's a big play in the game.

"I'm not satisfied with anything that we did today, in any of the three phases, or nor should we be as a football team."

Q: What is the problem with team right now:
"Well were not executing. Were not kicking it, were not covering it and that's what I have kind of said in my opening remark."

Q: How to you fix the problems right now:
"Collectively as a team we have got to play better in order to beat good football teams. And there again we allowed ourselves to get beat again by not making enough plays."

Q: Do you think there is a problem with offense running the football:
"I don't think so. We go in with a plan where we going to be with it. And I thought we stuck to the plan very well offensively. We were to play to what we feel is the weakness of what their doing, and kind of play to our strength. So it's hard for you to sit there and judge if we ran the football effectively or not."

Q: Do you think that Chad (Johnson) got tired from running long routes by the end of the game:
"It wasn't a factor late in the game. We went down and scored the last time we had the ball."

Q: Can you explain the decision to go for the two-point conversion:
"By going for two, it gives us an opportunity late in the game to put some different things on the table."

Q: On if Qwest Field was as advertised as a loud place to play:
"Yeah probably the loudest place I have ever played."

Q: On the end of the 4th quarter:
"I was just hoping to get a good return, all we needed was a field goal, we had three timeouts and a minute to go which is all the time in the world to score. Glenn took a big hit on the kick-off return running and putting his nose up into the pile and that just happens when you play extremely hard. That stuff just happens because he puts 100% into it every single time every single practice. Whether he is on offense or special teams he is going full speed. He will bounce back and make plays. I told him afterwards he will bounce back and we expect him to make big plays and we expect him to keep doing so. We had enough time to go down there and score we thought, but sometimes it just happens and there is nothing that you can do about it."

Q: On if Seattle changed their pass defense after he started 10-11:
"No we started off hot and getting to some things that we wanted to get to and they adjusted a couple things but they did a good job and I need to do a better job of making easy completions. I threw a ball high to Reggie (Kelly)on third down and didn't give him a chance to get the first down. We will look at the film and see where we can get better and make some adjustments and get ready for New England."

Q: On if all of the completions to Chad and T.J. were because the Seahawks were in man:
"No those two guys are just as good as they get at that position. They kept getting open and kept making plays. They tried to slow them down by double covering them but they just kept making plays on the ball. When those guys are rolling you just have to keep trying to get them the ball and let them make plays."

Q: On if Chad and T.J. were a little tired at the end because of the large amount of times the ball was thrown:
"No I think those guys can't be in any better shape. They can't take care of their bodies more they can't practice harder or do extra stuff to stay in shape that is just part of the game you get tired. Everybody gets tired. They were getting tired but the DB's were getting tired also. That is just part of the game.

Q: On the problem of remaining balanced offensively when 50 passes are thrown:
"I love it. I love getting the chance to throw the ball the way that we have in the last couple of weeks. Its fun. But in order to win football games you have to be able to run the ball. The way that we are as an offense it all starts up front. Whether its in the running game or pass protection those guys love to run the ball and grind it out.We just couldn't quite get it going early. We got it going a later on in the game and got a little bit of room in the run game. It does make it tougher in terms of play action it really doesnt affect anybody because you haven't been successful in the run game. They did a good job. I think that we had enough of number 51 all day. He is so quick and jumps aound blocks and makes plays. I can't think of a better Tampa-2 linebacker than Lofa (Tatupu). He just keeps making plays and getting in the backfield, jumping on the backs of running backs so everyone else can jump on them. I can't say enough about him."

Q: On whether they felt they could go deep on Seattle:
We could beat them on anything we wanted to beat them on. They didn't stop us all day in the passing game. We had a turnover here, and a turnover there, but they didn't stop anything we wanted to do passing wise.

Q: On whether he was surprised that the stats didn't translate into more points:
I didn't see the stats, but it should have translated into more points. I'm not sure what happened.

Q: On how disappointing the game was:
It's disappointing. I know that if our offense gets the ball with that minute to go, we were going to go down and we were going to score. I know that.

Q: On what he said to Kelly Jennings:
Just what's up. I know him from Miami, that's about it.

Q: On whether he was surprised they tried to cover man-to-man:
Man? What game were you watching? I didn't see any man-to-man. Are you serious? They played Man twice, two times. I can only speak for myself. I had to deal with two people the entire game, sometimes three.

Q: On the effect of having Brian Russell in the secondary:
He is a very intimidating player. He doesn't intimidate me, but he is a very intimidating player. He is going to make a big difference back there. I have seen him come up and lay some unbelievable hits on some people. He's going to make a big difference here.

Q: On Seattle's defensive adjustments:
"I thought they tightened things up. Their corners were playing man-to-man, then they started playing cover two. I wouldn't say it caught us off guard, but they just got smart. We just didn't move the ball. We had turnovers. Whatever. We didn't win."

Q: On Cincinnati's early success on offense:
"You figure if you've moving the ball up and down the field like that you figure we'll score more than, I forget how many we scored. They made the plays, we didn't."

Q: On why he seems disappointed by the outcome of the past two games:
"Because it's two games we felt we should have won. Two games where we felt we were better than the team we played. Instead of being 3-0, we're 1-2, and we've got probably the best team coming to play us next week. It's going to be tough."

Q: On how Seattle covered receivers late in the game:
"They would double me, double Chad here and there. We felt like we could do whatever we wanted, to be honest with you, so we went deep, because we felt they couldn't stop us."

Q: On how easy Seattle's defense played early ikn man-to-man:
"Very easy. That's why they got out of it. That's why their coaches get paid to do what they do. If they would have stayed in man-to-man, we might have scored 100. But, they knew they couldn't cover us, and they did what they had to do. They just went to a cover two shell and try to force you to throw the ball underneath. That's it. They just made more plays than we did. They just went down there with the ball at the end of the game and they scored when they needed to, and that was the crucial part of the game. It's frustrating, but what can you do but get ready for next week's game."

Q: On what you might have held back for that final drive:
"No. We were just going to go out there and run our offense. You don't hold anything back hoping we're going to surprise them with something. Nah. We're going to run our offense."

Q: On the team's mentality:
"I'm confident. I'd like to think everybody else is. But who knows. You can't hang your head. I don't care who it is, you're not going to cover me. I'm sure Chad thinks the same way. Willie thinks who's ever across from his is not going to around him. You just have to think confident. I was just worried about winning. I thought once we went down, I thought we had the game. I thought the defense was going to hold them. It didn't happen. I thought we'd get the ball back. That didn't happen. It is what it is."

Q: On Seattle's Brian Russell:
"Brian Russell, in my opinion, is a smart safety. He's really, really smart to me. He was doing some things out there that he shouldn't have been doing in the coverage he was playing. But it was smart by him, b ecause it was helping the team out. When you have players like that who are smart and understand football. He's kind of playing cat-and-mouse with you. He did a good job."

Q: On how the game ended:
"We just didn't finish the game the way we needed to win—they did. So, they came out with the win."

Q: On the linebackers and how they are dealing with the injuries:
"That [injures] is part of the game. People get injured and people have to step in for the injured people. I am sure we are not the only team in the league that has people getting injured in certain positions. We have got to play though it. I don't think it had a big impact on the outcome of the game. Everybody out there knows how to play football. And, the coaches did a great job of getting people prepared to play; we just have to get out there and play. And that is how it is in the NFL, it is only a few plays that turn the outcome of the game in either direction. We just have to find a way to start making those plays."

Q: On the Bengals defensive performance today:
"We let one slip away again this week; it was better than the week before, but we have got to come out and play better than that."

Q: On the next step for the defense to prevent a snowball affect:
"We just have to get to work when we arrive tomorrow. We have to forget about this tomorrow, well, even on the plane ride back—and we have to focus on the Patriots. And, as every play is a different play, we can't spend time worrying about what has happened on the play before. We can't dwell on this we have a lot of football left. Whoever is left on the schedule, I think it is the Patriots, is our next focus and we have got to get a win."

Q: On what caused the loss:
"It was just one of those things. We didn't play well enough to win. They made more plays than us and they beat us and now we are looking for a win."

Q: On how it is to be so close to winning and lose in the end:
"That is just this league; every game is going to be like that. We have got to store it on the ride back and get back to work tomorrow. I obviously haven't had a chance to look at the tape yet, but we definitely did better than we did last week. But we have to make more and more plays. We have to do better as a unit and better individually."

Q: On the defensive play in today's game:
"We just have to play within the defense and keep working at it. Yeah, it was a rough one to win so late. I think the most important thing is that we stick together as a team. It is along season and we have to stick together."

Q: On the outlook of the Bengals after today:
"This is all about 'positive.' We are trying to be positive. People always talk about that book, The Secret, and speaking "positivity" into the atmosphere and into the world and speaking it into the locker room, and speaking it when you are out there on the practice field and being the positive force when you are out there, or in the meeting room. I focus on saying, 'we will win, we will come back and we will get over this.' Because, the fact is that it has only been three games and we have a game coming up this week then we have a bye week and then we really get into the nitty-gritty of it. What we have done in the past is in the past. What we have now is a group of good guys."

Q: On if he anticipated the Seahawks would tackle hard during his runback:
"Yeah, but I was feeling that when I was trying to get through the hole. I was running real hard, then I tried to jump over people. I lost control of the ball when a guy hit me. Then I let it go. Somebody's helmet hit the football and it just popped right out.

Q: On if he saw a crease:
"I was through the wedge and I felt like I was going, but I saw a guy coming across my face on the right and I just tried to jump. As soon as I jumped, I jumped with the ball, and the guy's helmet hit the football. I was trying get up through the hold, to score a touchdown, trying to make the best of it."

Q: On losing two straight:
"Definitely. We'll rebound, though. We'll be back."

Q: Initial comments:
My goodness gracious. Wonderful win, great win for us. Give credit to Cincinnati, first of all, they came in, on the road. They are a really good offensive football team, and they played good defense today, as well. So, they are a good football team, and they are a team to be reckoned with during the season. I thought our defense against them, as potent as they are, did a nice job. We didn't give up quite as many points; they are going to score on people. It was a little bit of bend but don't break, and we had a couple of big plays that really helped us out as far as turnovers.

On offense, if we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, we can move the ball as well. We didn't run the ball as well as I would have liked today. That's a work in progress, we'll keep working on it. I don't have anything real definitive until I see the film, but I would have liked to have run the ball better. And, then be more consistent. Special teams, we started the game with a big play and ended the game with a big play, so that's what you need from your special teams. So, it was a total team effort. I am very proud of the guys in there. Now we roll up our sleeves and get ready for the next opponent...after my granddaughter's birthday party tonight. [laughter]

Q: On the fourth and one play:
The play I had last week, I thought it was a good call last week, we just didn't do it very well. Today they executed, and Cincinnati kind of bunched in there to stop something I think right up the gut, and we popped it outside, and sometimes that works for you.

Q: On Nate Burleson dropping a touchdown pass, and then coming back to score the game winning touchdown:
Nate is one of the players we have on our team who is tremendously talented, that will develop more consistency the more he plays. He made great plays today, and he made a couple of things that I wish we could take back and so does he. But, he is a talented young man. Matt obviously has confidence in him, because he went to him on the last throw, when he could have gone...we had the same thing going on both sides, so he could have chosen Deion. But, I was very happy for Nate on the last touchdown, and he just has to develop a little more consistency and he will be the player he wants to be.

Q: On the last touchdown pass, are you hoping that one side or the other will be open:
I was hoping. Actually, they were in a pretty good coverage for it. Now that I think about it, when I looked out there, I said Matt might have to check the ball down to one of his backs, but the playfake held the safety just enough, and Matt made a beautiful throw into the voided area.

Q: On the play of the safeties:
I thought they had a pretty good game. They were involved in turnover situations, they hit pretty well, they broke up a couple of passes. That is the safety play that you need in this league. Solid, lining up people properly. I don't think we had many breakdowns assignment-wise, it was just that they are a good football team, and they get you every once in a while. In fact, they get you often, but they'll get a lot of people. I think after I look at the film, I'm going to be pleased with how the safeties played.

Q: On whether the Bengals picked off Trufant on their touchdown pass:
I don't think it was a pick. I don't know, but I don't think it was. I think if you ask Marcus about that play, he didn't play the defense exactly the way we would like him to, or he should. I think he would tell you that. He's a pretty up front kid. In fact, he had Chad the whole game, and that's a big time assignment for any defensive back. Chad Johnson is an excellent football player.

Q: On the decisions to line up the cornerbacks a certain way:
I think in their meetings, they just said we'll go best-on-best. Now, Houshmandzadeh is an excellent player. You kind of have to pick your poison. He had a good game too, in my opinion. You try to match it up the best way you can. It is not unprecedented. We've done that before. Marcus is off to a very, very good start this year, so we tried it.

Q: On the resiliency of the defense:
A game like this, if you are fortunte enough to win a game like this, it is a good building block for your season. We're not operating on all cyllinders yet, but they are trying hard and there is a good team feeling. If we hadn't of run into each other last week, our record would be a little bit better, maybe. When you win a game, in the end, everyone feels real good. And every phase of our football team contributed. You can build on that. Now we have to keep getting better, keep eliminating the mistakes that are plauging us. Keep being a little sounder, a little more technically good, and improve. I think our best football is still ahead of us, no doubt about that.

Q: On Shaun Alexander:
I wouldn't have guessed that he had 100 yards, but I'm happy that he did. We did not run the ball, as I said earlier, as well as I would have liked to. But, we're going to build on that. Our running game and our rushing attack is going to be very important to us before our season is over, and it will continue to get better.

Q: On what might be holding the rushing game back:
Anytime you don't run up to your standard or what you believe you should do, it's one thing, one play, one thing or another. It's never just one thing. It's not like, last year, as an example, we said that we had young lineman, that was kind of our mantra. Well, they're not young any more. They're not old, but they're not young. So now, Shaun has the cast on his hand. It's not one thing or another. We will continue to work on it, and get better. We have the potential, in my opinion to be a good rushing team. You just can't give up on it. We have to keep working, and we'll get better.

Q: On whether the game unfolded as he expected:
It's been my experience, whenever people think a game will be a certain way, it's not. Invariably, it's not. They had a lot of points scored on them, they scored a lot of points. We have the potential to score some points, but it wasn't that type of game. There was a lot of yards, but the defenses on both teams, they made good decisions and they made tough plays on third down. There wasn't a lot of scoring. Every game unfolds just the way it unfolds. Every single one is unique, so I try not to think about it too much, until the end. Then I said that obviously we're going to have to score a touchdown here, so let's do this if we can.

Q: On Kelly Jennings getting nicked up:
I think he had the wind knocked out of him just a little. He's really in great shape. He's a superb athlete and in great shape, but on a play he got the wind knocked out of him, and he got up a little slow.

Q: On the health of the team:
I should get a couple guys back next week, which is good news.

Q: On not attempting a 53-yard field goal in the first quarter:
It was a 53-yard field goal, and I always consult with the special teams guys and Josh based on what they do in warm ups, and he said that it was just a little out of his range today. I don't begin to understand all that, but I have to believe it. Then, the decision is do I go for it on fourth and seven, or do I punt it down there. It wasn't my favorite call of the day, that's for sure. We had a little less to go, and then we lost yardage on third down if I'm not mistaken. I didn't want to punt it, but we did.

Q: On why he threw to Burleson's side on the winning touchdown:
Pick somebody. It was really an all-block situation where we were trying to block everybody and we had hitch routes outside, that converted because they were in a two deep zone. Really, it was a dicey call. You could see at the line of scrimmage I paused for a while, people were probably screaming at me, because I know the clock was running down. I was trying to decide how to handle the situation I decided with the play action fake to the right, maybe because my back was turned a little, that safety might settle a little bit more. I don't know if that's what happened, but Nate did a great job of exploding, coming off fast, and expecting the ball.

Q: On whether it seems like the ball is in the air a long time:
No, when I threw that one, I kind of knew. It's a great feeling.

Q: On throwing to Nate in the back of the end zone and the one up the seam:
It's tough, as a receiver you don't get too many opportunities and you want to make the most of your opportunities. On the one before the half, Nate is just a clear guy, he's not even in the read at all, but they gave us a defense; they had had some injuries at linebacker and they were playing with 5 D-lineman. The guy I wanted to throw to was Mack Strong. He was forced to block and I took a shot. Nate was running hard, and it was inches. On the other one in the endzone, potentially for the win, it was a brand new play, we had never run it before. Nate is working that end line, and he had it, and I don't know if his concentration was off just because of the end line, or that he hit the ground pretty hard, it might have been that. Hopefully, those are things we can just improve on. The more we rep that stuff, the more we can take advantage of these opportunities.

Q: On whether the win was an equal contribution of offense, defense and special teams:
I think so. I didn't pay too much attention when they were on offense or when we were on special teams but it definitely felt like we were having a few sudden changes where we would get the ball back. Our crowd was really into it, and that helps a lot. It's hard, because their offense is so good. They have one of the best offenses ever. When you're sitting on the bench, we usually preach tempo, tempo and we try to get in and out of the huddle, and we do that a little bit, but there became a point where I just wanted to stay on the field. So, we just tried to control the clock a little bit as well.

Q: On whether Shaun's long run on fourth and one made him feel that things would go his way:
Well, it was good. We were really fortunate there, I think they might have misaligned. They have had a lot of injuries, and they've been doing the best they can. They have a brand new linebacker that had to play for them today. They have injuries, and we were fortunate to have really the perfect call for the way they lined up.

Q: On whether he was thinking about last week when he was calling audibles:
No, what I think instead is during the game I will do what I normally do. I will catch myself, because of what happened. I'm trying to just hand the ball off.

Q: On the touchdown pass to Burleson:
It's just a go. It's not what you want, but it worked out great.

Q: On getting good field position:
It was big. Statistically, you can look at the league and you can say, OK if you start your drive here, your percentage of touchdowns is this. The better your field position is, the better the percentages are. The statistics are just ridiculous. That is something that Mike is always preaching to our special teams and also to our defense. As an offense, you just have to deal with it wherever you start.

Q: On starting at the 40-yard line on the final drive:
That's a momentum builder. Starting the ball on the 40 is huge.

Q: On the final touchdown throw:
I don't know that I actually watched to see the catch. Maybe I did, or didn't. I was just happy.

Q: On the play where the ball was tipped and Hasselbeck touched it and it was ruled incomplete:
Had I caught it, I probably would have scored. [laughter]

Q: On getting the offense untracked:
We have a lot of coaches who are responsible for that, and they are looking at it from all angles, and I'm sure they're going to have answers for why certain things happened. I'm going to do my part, whatever they ask me to do, I'm going to try to put our guys in the best situations. I thought we did a nice job of communicating, because of their injury situation, they showed us a lot of stuff that we had not prepared for, because we had not seen it. With their linebacker situation, they went to five down lineman a bunch. We were just up there, communicating at the line of scrimmage, with Chris Gray telling everybody what to do, and just running it. Then, Mack and Shaun doing a nice job of adjusting, and just running hard. For the most part, I thought we handled that part pretty good.

Q: On getting a win after last week's events:
Last week is just last week. You hope it never happens, but it happens. This week, that's really my role, to go out there and make plays and give us the best chance to win. It was good.

Q: On having to come out of the game for a little while:
Football is a physical sport. My mom told me that when we started, but I just didn't listen to her. These last three weeks have probably been the most physical for me in a long time.

Q: On whether it was easier playing with the cast today:
No. You play with one hand, it's just different.

Q: On the big run on fourth down:
The boys blocked it very well. Sean Locklear, he rolled the whole thing down. And I said, allright Mack, I'm just going to run behind you. And when I open my eyes, I expect us to be way down the field. When I opened them, we had a first game, and we were in good shape.

Q: On playing against his hometown team:
This is exciting. As anybody would know who gets to play against your home team in your stadium, you all call me coming in here, reading 500 million text messages. It's just good. I have aunts and uncles who don't even watch the Seahawks, but they watch the Bengals, so they got to see us play and see me win. Any time you get to beat your home team, it's good.

Q: On whether the running game was frustrating in the first half:
No. I'm pretty beat up, and the line is playing well. It's just football. Any time you play in a game, nothing is easy. The Bengals were lining up in all kinds of stuff that we had never seen before. It just took us a while. We're still playing the leaky faucet game, and we were hoping it was going to go well, and we got some runs in the second half.

Q: On whether he heard the crowd getting frustrated:
Yeah, I think they were reading my mind. You all know how high I set my goals. No one will ever be more frustrated than I will be when it comes to our running game. That's just kind of how it is.

Q: On whether it surprised him that he had 100 yards rushing:
I don't really ever pay attention to stats until the game is over. So, it always feels surprising to have 100 yards, unless somebody comes and tells me, because I am just playing for the next carry. I knew when I got the last run that we won the game. So, that was a good feeling.

Q: On whether he gets better as the game goes on:
My whole career has been like that. The more carries, it seems like our line just gets into a groove, and we just start gelling well. I don't know if I quite get better, I think that things just start to work out better for us.

Q: On whether he always expects to break a run eventually:
Yes. I don't think that there is ever a time where I didn't expect to break a run. I think that is what keeps my edge. I have actually learned how to tone it down a little bit, because I wanted to make every play an 80 yard touchdown run. I am still always looking for, whenever I see a weakness, to exploit it.

Q: On hearing boos at Qwest:
"It's just frustration by fans and the team alike when we're not executing the way we want to. I really don't feel like our fans are booing anyone personally. They just want us to perform. They want us to convert those third downs. They want us to stop their offense. Frustration is normal. The fans want to come out to support the team and win. In the end, all those guys you mentioned, they came through."

Q: On stopping big plays:
"They're an amazing offense. They are guys that if you think you're going to contain them and hold them to one hundred yards of total offense or something, you're crazy. They are just phenomenal. You have to contain them as best you can, put pressure on the quarterback, not give up cheap stuff, and come out with tough wins like this. I think you have to be happy with the effort. We created a few turnovers. Special teams played well for us; team win. Against an offense that good I don't know if there is a defense in the league that's just going to outright shut them down. That's impossible."

Q: On his final touchdown catch:
"It was like a cover two so he was about five yards off looking in at Matt. I ran past him, got into his blind spot, and Matt hit me square in the pads. I'm just thinking, get in this end zone. We need this. I dropped a couple balls. Somebody used the word redemption earlier but it wasn't about redemption. It was about getting the Seahawks up in the game and trying to get this victory. That's all we're thinking. Get in the end zone. We have a chance to win this game. It definitely feels good but that wasn't what I was thinking. I was thinking victory. We really need to win. Just like Coach said last week, we let one slip away and I didn't want to be the one who let this one slip away."

Q: On defensive performance:
"A lot of times they kept some guys back there to do some chipping on the outside guys. The best thing about it is our D-backs did a good job being around in the vicinity, playing depth, getting some hits on the receivers, and making some plays themselves. They had a couple interceptions. Great catch by Brian (Russell) and Deon (Grant) on the sideline."

Q: On Chad Johnson:
"I didn't say too much to him. He really talks to the DBs because that's who he goes against the most. He knows not to come around that interior area."