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Championship!!!!
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Head Coach Dennis Green
On what made the difference in the game:
"We didn't take care of the ball. They made two big plays, one on defense and one big play on offense. We didn't do a very good job when we had the lead. At the end of the ball game we couldn't get first downs. I think that was the difference."
On whether having two cornerbacks injured played a factor in the game:
"We had a safety playing at corner and that was where they had one of their touchdowns. I think Quentin (Harris) did a good job going in. Hopefully, we'll get Macklin and Walls back after the bye week."
On scoring 20 points:
"Anytime you lose it's disappointing. You just can't win very many games scoring 20 points in the National Football League. If you looked at the 32 teams that played, very few would have scored 20 points and won."
On Carolina's front seven:
"They (Carolina) have a good front seven. I just think that we missed on some opportunities. We had an interception batted down where we could have had a touchdown or a field goal. We had another interception going in too. With both of those, it's tough to drive. One of those was an 80-yard drive and we had a 90-yard drive for a touchdown. We moved the ball OK, but you've got to score points and you've got to be able to slam the door."
On Anquan Boldin's fumble:
"We would of had a first down at midfield with a 10-point lead. We had a few other opportunities too where we just didn't take good care of the football."
On the Cardinals inability to run the ball:
"It hurts you. You have to be able to run the ball a little bit and have something to go to. I don't even know if we threw to the tight end. Eventually, we threw to the backs a little bit. We threw to the fullback some. We threw to the third receiver, Charles Lee, who had a nice play. But you've got to be able to mix it up. They're big, physical and tall. They had some batted balls. I just think that whether you're passing or running, you've got to be able to get in there and score touchdowns."
On whether Josh McCown ran out of gas in the end of the game:
"It's hard to say. He wasn't hit or beat up. I just think that they did a better job of playing the soft zone. We couldn't find the people and get the ball to them."
On Carolina's 94-yard scoring drive:
"They had a couple of big plays and key third down plays. I think that's where we had to shut them down. We had a great punt and we got to midfield. They had a chance to get a first down and didn't and had to punt the ball. They had a couple of key plays in there and we had some breakdowns."
On the play of Josh McCown:
"I think anytime you throw the ball for 300 yards you're playing pretty decently. We just have to have more opportunities and take care of the ball. One interception was a little underthrown and one was batted that probably wasn't his fault."
On the Cardinals pass protection:
"Protection was OK. They're very physical and big. They did a pretty good job in protection. I think Fred (Wakefield) did a good job on Peppers. I think the right side, with Elton (Brown) and Fred, they did a pretty good job."
On Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin:
"They each had a touchdown. Anquan had an amazing run. Fitzgerald had a couple plays in there. I think that they're both coming on real well. We just need to get the rest of our offense to play a little bit more productively. I can't complain with how hard they played. They played hard. It was a physical game and the guys played hard."
On being 1-4:
"I'm disappointed. I think we were 1-4 last year and we were hoping to be a lot better than that."
On Josh McCown finding the receivers:
"If you throw for 370 yards, that's a lot of yardage. I think that Josh has been able to find the receivers and that's a big plus."
On the delay of game penalty on the last drive for the Cardinals:
"He just wasn't paying attention. He was out of the huddle for about 12 seconds, but he just didn't snap it."
Fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo
On thoughts after the Carolina loss
"You just keep banging your head on the wall trying to figure out where to go from here after you have expierenced the things we have expeienced. We know one way to handle things and that's to keep working. It's frustrating; you have to question how you feel about it. There's no word that can explain how heartwrenchingly painful to be up 20-10 and think you're going to score again and then end up being down 24-20 in a blink of an eye. If you look at how we play now compared to our first game, I think we are much improved. No one wants to hear about us being much improved; fans are yelling at us and telling us how bad we are. We don't want to go out ther and flop around, we want to go out there and win."
On the impact of the fans
"I heard them, I hear what they say. I may not comment on everything, but I do hear everything. I feel it too and it's a heavy feeling when you know you are leting people down. You don't want to ever feel like you aren't doing your job."
On the inability to run the ball consistently
"I don't know if we're becoming predictabale, but I do think that the guys we have outside are better than the guys lined up over them, so they keep making plays. We're protecting the quarterback and today, I don't think we gave up an outright sack. I think we're improving and yes, I think we're going to have to find a running game if we want to take it to the next level. Maybe we need to think about how we want to do that. I'm sure the coaches will be thinking and talking things out, their brains are always working. I'm going to trust them to come up with a better plan."
Quarterback Josh McCown
On final minute drives:
“It is very tough to lose a game like that at home. It hurts badly. There is no other way to put it. Those things stay with you for a while. We would get going, and then slow down. We were shooting ourselves in the foot. I had a chance to get outside the pocket and they [the defense] were applying good pressure. I had a chance to hit the sidelines, obviously a tough throw, but one that I feel like I can make. Then I had a chance to scramble on first down, everybody dropped back so deep and you want to force a ball. Rather than forcing a ball I wanted to put it on myself to go get it and we came up an inch short. That is on me. From a peripheral I thought I was close enough to get the first down, so I dove into the defense so I could hurry up and get down to get another play going. It was just frustrating.”
On this loss:
“It is very frustrating. Obviously, you want to get it done when you have a few shots like that and it doesn’t work out. It bothers me. Trust me. You guys talk about it and the things we did wrong and things like that. This is our job. This is what we do for a living. As much as you think you talk about it, we think about it twice as much. It eats at you bad. I can’t explain it. It will keep you up at night and it is something that you can’t shake. In turn, it drives you. There are always some good things that happened, but that was a frustrating part of the game and you wish you had those shots back.”
On delay of game penalty:
“They blew it up on what we thought was a reset. They moved the ball and so we tried to get the play called and get the snap and they called it [delay of game]. We thought they were going to reset and they didn’t.”
On second half Panther defense:
“It makes it tougher [without the running game]. Teams start figuring out that they can stop the run with just their front four. They start dropping back and taking guys away. They were able to get back in double sets a little more and take some things away. We have to get some sort of running game going because anytime you throw it that many times it is going to be tough to win a ball game. There were still plays there to be made. We just have to make them.”
On losing the lead:
“To me, I think it was in the first half. Getting in the position to get up by two scores in the first half and not capitalizing. I think that really hurt us and it was unfortunate. I have to go back and look at it, but Larry [Fitzgerald] and I have done that a million times and he comes down with it all the time. I don’t know what happened that kept him from getting up there, because usually nothing stops him. We will have to look and see what happened as to why he couldn’t get up there and make that grab. For them to tip it and catch it was a freak play and that happens. You can’t jump back in question and ask yourself ‘should we have thrown it up?’ We did it in the last seconds last year against Miami and it was a touchdown. We have really done it so many times, it is something that we utilize. He is a great player, and we have to utilize him.”
On Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin:
“They were dropping a lot of guys deep. It forces you to throw the ball into coverage that you don’t want to do. When you are able to get the ball to guys is when you break out. We had a shot at [Anquan] on the sideline and the ball sailed out on me a little bit. The last play of the game was the same thing. [The defense] are all out of there and you go up the middle trying to get it. I thought I was there, thought I had it and we came up short. That is how the game goes.”
On turnovers:
“Who knows what we were going to do on the drive where [Boldin] fumbles, but at the end of the first half they took seven there. I think they took three with [Julius] Peppers. That play, again what a freak play. A guy comes off a block and tips a swing route. He is an unbelievable athlete and there is not a whole lot you can do when a guy like that makes a play like that. Those two turnovers are what swung the game. We left out 10 points there and I think that would have made a difference.”
On comfort in the pocket:
“I feel comfortable. I am seeing things, seeing blitzes. That is something that I feel like we are getting better at as a team and as a front five. We are blocking a lot better in pass protection and doing a good job.”
On the Cardinals 1-4 record:
“That is what hurts so bad. We had ourselves in a position and I think, played some pretty good football today but we didn’t get this win. As the older I get, you learn that there are 16 games and that’s it. As a rookie, you come in and think we can drop two or three. It is not like baseball where you can lose five or six in a row. You have to win when you have opportunities and when you miss them, like I said, it hurts. For us, we will work hard in the bye week, then get away, catch our breath and come back fighting with intensity.”
On the quarterback situation:
“I haven’t even thought about it. I am just going to fight and play as hard as I can. Whatever happens, happens. I just hate that we didn’t get a win today. As a quarterback with an opportunity to make plays, you walk off the field a loser and that’s what hurts the worst. I really don’t think about my situation.”
WR Anquan Boldin
On the passing game clicking early in the game:
“We liked what we saw outside against their corners and for a time we had things going like we wanted them to.”
On the feeling the team has after the loss:
“Disbelief, stunned, you name it and that is how we feel. It was a situation where we had control of the game through the first half. We were up ten points going into the half and we just let the lead go in the second half. We turned the ball over too many times and you can’t do that when you are playing a team of that magnitude. We have to convert when we get into the red zone and we need to stop turning the ball over.”
On the touchdown play and his fumble:
“On both plays I was lined up in the backfield. On the touchdown I had a flat route and Josh threw the ball. I made a couple of guys miss and got a couple of blocks and I was able to get into the endzone. On the fumble it was a wheel route and I made the corner miss. I tried to make the safety miss but the ball got away from my body and it got punched out. That was a bad play on my part”
On whether the fumble was a change of momentum:
“It probably was. They weren’t doing anything on offense at that point. I put all that on my shoulders.”
On how he ended up lining up in the backfield:
“It was just something that the coaches came up with. I was something they were doing to try to get playmakers the ball.”
On how comfortable he is in the backfield:
“I am comfortable anywhere they put me on the field. I am always going to give it my all.”
On where the team is emotionally:
“We are stunned right now but it is a young season. We still have a lot of football to play. We can’t just hang our hats on this one loss. During the bye week we are going to try to get healthy. We are going to try to correct our mistakes and we are going to come out the following week and let Tennessee have it.”
On the Carolina defense late in the game:
"They were rushing three and dropping eight. Dropping everybody into coverage is kind of tough to complete balls against that look."
On the missed opportunity to win late in the game:
"It's tough. It's something we try and preach around here. Whenever we're up like that we want to close the game out. For some reason we didn't do that today."
On Josh McCown's performance:
"I thought he played good. He's a great competitor and he makes things happen both inside and outside the pocket. He's the ultimate competitor."
On thoughts of the team going to the bye week 1-4:
"We just got to get it right. It's still a young season and we have a lot of little things we have to correct to be a good team."
Cardinals DE Calvin Pace
On the game slipping away at the end:
“They made plays and we didn’t. We turned the ball over and we didn’t get enough turnovers. You have to tip your hat to them because they made the plays. We still have a long season. We can bounce back and come out against Tennessee and still get a win.”
On the bye week giving them a chance to get healthy:
“With the injuries we got right now it would be tough to play a game next week. Anytime you have a bye week it is going to help you out. It is going to be fine.”
Cardinals DL Ross Kolodziej
On the different schemes on defense:
“ The approach that we took to the Panthers offense this week is the approach that we need to take to every offense this season. The more formations we can do, the more an offense has to prepare for. There are only a couple of days in a week that they get to prepare. It benefits us and keeps them off balance. Bottom line is it comes down to execution. We need to execute regardless of whether it is a five-man, four-man or three-man scheme, we need to have eleven guys flying to the ball regardless of what defense is called.”
On the amount of injuries there have been at the corner position:
“That is the nature of the beast. You play football and the chances are there are going to be injuries. You have to overcome and rise up. We have guys that are ready to step in and make plays when they are called on so we are not sweating the injuries.”
On the outcome of the game:
“It is tough. You have a game where you are in control and you are in the lead and then in the fourth quarter you just give it away. We have the bye week to correct these issues and we will get it taken care of.”
CB Eric Green
On his injury:
“I lined up in the slot and the fullback came out and instead of chopping, I hit him up high and caught his helmet right on top of my joint. We took x-rays and everything came out negative. We will have to see. I am just in a lot of pain right now. Everything should be fine.”
On the injuries happening at the cornerback position:
“Injuries happen and that is why you have backups. You are in the NFL now so you have to expect to play. Right now we are banged up so it is a good thing we have that bye week. We will bounce back from this.”
DT Darnell Dockett
On the loss:
“It’s very frustrating. There is nothing we can do. They made the plays in the end and we couldn’t bounce back from it. They got a little momentum. It is one of those games where you wish it was a video game and you could just press reset and start all over because, me personally, I don’t think they deserved to win. I thought we were the best team. We had them and we let them go in the end.”
On whether they need to learn to finish games:
“It is not like that. Everything we got, we earned it. Nobody gave us nothing. We didn’t get a couple of calls but that is football and we aren’t going to whine. We are never going to get into complaining mode. We just have to line up and play. The rest is for you guys to decide. That is what the media is for, to decide what were good calls and what were bad calls. We have to get ready for the Tennessee Titans.”
On whether he thought they could come back late in the game:
“Yeah, any team is capable of doing that if you give it to them. They did it. They made a couple of plays. It is too bad we don’t get to play them again.”
On his frustration level:
“I was very frustrated. For a team to work so hard in practice and believe they can win against anybody they line up against, even if you lose and it is close. You sit back and hear people talking about ‘that is the same old Cardinals”, but teams respect us on both sides of the ball. That is that. We just lost a game.”
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