Bengals-Bills Postgame remarks

BENGALS COACH MARVIN LEWIS
On the game:
“I told the guys I wish I had a magic word to fix where we are, other than the fact that we’ve got to figure out a way internally and individually to not make the critical errors that we’re making at critical points in the football game. Today we had a first half where we did a lot of things right, and we obviously were down a little bit (with injuries) in the secondary as the game went on. We’ve got to figure out a way to limit their (the opposing team’s) production. Getting the receivers and the ball carriers tackled is the biggest thing.

“Offensively, we play, and then we have a critical error that really hurts us. We’re playing our tails off for most of the game. They’re playing right down to the (last) fibers of their bodies and giving everything they’ve got. Guys going back in when they’re injured, but they’re playing their tails off.

“We’ve got a game here upon us quickly. Somehow we’ve got to put this behind us and move forward. We can’t dwell on this one. Obviously there are a lot of corrections to be made, and we’ll see where we are personnel- wise, but we’ve got to move forward.”


CARSON PALMER
What is your assessment of the first and second halves?
“Two different games. We obviously didn’t finish, and in this league it’s about finishing. Finishing football games is what wins, and obviously, we didn’t win and we didn’t finish the game.”

Is this team’s psyche fragile? When things go bad it seems to snowball so quickly:
“I don’t know if that’s the mentality, but that seems to be what you’re talking about with the snowball effect. It’s been one mistake turns into two, turns into three, and then you’re down 10 when you were up seven. That’s obviously a difficult place to be in as a team. As many football games as we have left, we have to fight that feeling, we have fight that mentality and find a way to believe in ourselves and find a way to build some confidence in each other and have that snowball, instead of the opposite.”

You said this week chemistry has been a problem with this team. Is that fixable in a season?
“I think so. The only way to fix something like that is repetitions and work. We did a better job today of, for the most part, guys being in the right spot, lining up in the right places and motioning at the right times and doing all those things offensively. But it’s too late in the season to be talking about building chemistry right now.”

Should we be talking about guys not lining up in the right spot after Week 10 of an NFL season?
“No. That wasn’t an issue today, like I said. But, no, we shouldn’t be talking about that or building chemistry. That’s what the off-season is for. That’s where you build that chemistry, over the summer going into training camp. That’s not something we should be talking about now.”

The guys in there (locker room) made the point of saying the effort is still there, but losing 35-0 in the second half at home to a 1-8 team might suggest otherwise:
“Yeah, I’ve played against teams that turned it in and have quit and I’ve been on teams one time where that was the case, but I don’t believe that’s the case with this team. For the most part we’re fighting to get back in the game when they took the lead, and we just didn’t make enough plays, or the right plays when the time came upon us.”

T.O. (Terrell Owens) said you’re a terrible team. Do you agree?
“I wouldn’t use that word, but we’re not a good team, obviously. We’ve won two games and we’ve played 10. I would use a different word.”

On the interception in the end zone, did that guy surprise you being there?
“He definitely surprised me. I knew where he was, and I tried to fit the ball in, and I shouldn’t have thrown it. I should have tucked the ball in and not thrown it.”

You said you wouldn’t use T.O’s word, but what word would you use?
“Not good. We’re not a good football team.”

TERRELL OWENS
What is it like to be part of a crazy game like this?
“Crazy? What’s crazy is the fact that we’re just terrible. That’s just plain and simple. When I say we, that’s me included. Let me look you in the eyes and emphasize — we are terrible. Terrible. I have no answers for you. I have no sound bytes for you. All I know is, right now, we are terrible. Maybe if everyone wants to blame me, it’s my fault. Maybe I am bad luck. At this point, it is unthinkable — unbelievable — that we can lose a lead like that. And by no means am I taking anything away from the Buffalo Bills. Those guys are talented. They put on their pads and uniforms just like everybody else does. You go into every Sunday thinking it’s an opportunity to win a game, and they took full advantage of that today. I don’t understand. I don’t know what it is. We find ways to lose the game. You would think that, having a lead going into halftime, we could capitalize and build off that. We may go 2-14 at the rate we’re playing.”

Do you know why you were so good in the first half and not so good in the second?
“I have no idea. We’re not good, period.”

Do you take any good out of the first half?
“Why? How can you? You play four quarters, two halves. You play two halves, four quarters, 60 minutes — however you want to look at it. We’ve made enough mistakes in the last (seven) games to last a lifetime.”

Did Buffalo make any adjustments, or was it self-destruction?
“It’s been that way all year. After our second win, it has been self-destruction. I have no clue, no answer for you. I can’t put a finger on it. I don’t know what to do. It’s not like we’re not putting in the effort in practice. We can’t win for losing.”

Is this a breaking point for you?
“I don’t know. I can’t speak for everybody. As I mentioned earlier, we are terrible. I don’t blame the fans for booing us. I don’t blame people for not wanting to come and see the performance we’ve put up the last (seven) ball games. I don’t blame them.”

It’s a short week with a game Thursday. Can the team bounce back?
“I’m going to pray we do. I’m hoping so. I hope we don’t take the disappointment into the game against the Jets. They have a great defense, and their offense is explosive. If we play with the performance that we played with today, it’s over — it’s lights out. We’re playing for pride. We’re going to see what everybody’s made of, myself included.”.............................

CARLOS DUNLAP
What happened to the game plan out there in the second half?
“The defense came out and shut them down to start. A few guys got nicked up and we weren’t able to find our rhythm. I’m at a loss for words right now.”

Did the Buffalo defense do anything different out there?
“Yeah, they made some adjustments. We were doing OK getting some pressure, but once the ball got in their court, we weren’t able to do what we did in the first half. In the first half, we made them play our game, but in the second half, we played their game. We couldn’t execute the things that worked well for us in the first half.”

What were the adjustments they made?
“They converted on turnovers. If you have a turnover, you get momentum. At the end of the day, you have to play football.”

What does this defense have to do in order to get better?
“Play like we did in the first half (of this game) and finish all four quarters.”


REGGIE KELLY
You put up a lot of points, but didn’t come away with the win:
“It’s hard to put into words. I’ve played 12 seasons, and this has to be one of the more disappointing games I’ve played in. We’re a team, and we’ll continue to fight. We’re not going to give up, and that’s a promise.”

This team had high expectations. Is there a way to explain how things have happened this season?
“Every day, the guys come in and practice, regardless of our losses. Everyone is still working hard and that’s not going to stop. After you put so much work in and put your heart into it, it’s disappointing. It takes your breath away. We’re not going to give up. We have six more games to go out and fight hard. We can still turn this around and end the season on a high note.”

It was a drastic change in the second half:
“It was a drastic change. I still felt like we would come back and win the game. I remember starting to pick back up. I really don’t know what to say, but we’ll keep fighting.”

You say ‘everyone will keep fighting.’ Are you confident that will apply to everyone as a team?
“I’m confident. I think the veterans owe it to the younger guys to show them that we need to keep fighting. The NFL is full of ups and downs. You can’t just fight when you’re playing well.”


Reggie, is it hard to describe what just happened?
“There aren’t words. You have to come out and play football. You can’t play football for one half.”

Did they spread you out in the second half?
“They spread it out the entire game. At the end of the day, we just have to line up and play football.”

LEON HALL
Did they spread you out more in the second half?
“I don’t know if they did more than they did in the first. They were down, so they had to put the ball in the air.”

What did the injuries do to you?
“It’s unfortunate when you don’t have your starters out there. But you have to make plays, regardless of who’s one the field.”

It looked like there were some communication issues:
“None that I’m aware of. We had some guys that were left open.”

Steve Johnson was particularly effective:
“Yeah, they did a good job getting him the ball.”

How did they do it?
“They just put him in different areas.”

Did you slip on his last touchdown play?
“It was a false step early on. That was the go-ahead touchdown if I’m not mistaken. You can’t have that in the red zone.”

What about the touchdown after that — it looked like you slipped:
“He came from the other side. That wasn’t my guy, but he was wide open. You can’t have those as a defensive backfield.”

Are you surprised at what Ryan Fitzpatrick did to the defense?
“Considering how we have been playing on defense — yes. We had high expectations. The injuries didn’t help, but that doesn’t matter.”

This being a contract year for Marvin Lewis, are you concerned that there may be a coaching change?
“I don’t see it happening, but I don’t make the rules. We have to put this behind us today and come back tomorrow to work on the Jets"

ANDREW WHITWORTH
With regard to the second half — it’s a matter of adjusting to adjustments, isn’t it?
“Yeah, but it’s also turnovers. The last couple of games, the early turnovers killed us. In this game, the late turnovers killed us. With a big lead, the only thing you shouldn’t do is give the ball back with a turnover, and that’s what we did. We continue to bury ourselves.”

What did you think of the holding call that negated the Terrell Owens touchdown?
“It’s terrible. There was nothing I could do. I got my legs kicked out from under me and the guy drove me over the top of another guy’s legs. I didn’t hold the guy — I got pinned and basically fell down. There was no way I could have pulled him down.”

You went down because your legs were pinned?
“He hit me and my legs got kicked out. He actually got up and said ‘Wow, what a catch’ and started to run down the field. Next thing I know, they called a holding penalty.”

This is Murphy’s Law, isn’t it?
“We don’t really have a lot of things going our way. You have to be a competitor and you have to fight. When guys have their backs against the wall, they have to fight together. If we can’t do that, this will keep happening.”

They fought back on the road and came from behind:
“Yeah, you have to give them credit. They fought their tails off, came back, and won the game. We made it easy for them with the turnovers. When you do that, you’re in a lot of trouble.”