BENGALS CONFERENCE CALLS

AFC WILD CARD PLAYOFFS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2006

 

HEAD COACH MARVIN LEWIS

How is the town taking it?  Is everyone sky high already, and is that something you have to watch with your team?

I don’t know. I have not been out of here to know that. But I am sure everybody will be excited about the game.

Is this any more meaningful to you personally, that your first playoff game as a head coach is against the Steelers?

It is meaningful. I haven’t really thought that it is more meaningful because it is against the Steelers, but it is a meaningful game for us and I think for our football team and what they accomplished.

Ben Roethlisberger, in his first playoff experience, did not fare so well. Do you worry about that because it is Carson Palmer’s first playoff game?

Each and every game, we just take it as that. I would hope that Carson plays well and I don’t want to draw any comparisons between him and Ben that way. I am not privied to what happened with Ben one way or another.

Is there a difference in a playoff game when it comes to players?

I think the finality and urgency of it makes it different. There are no do-overs or we can’t take it back. So I think that makes it different.

What is the biggest difference that you have seen in the Steelers in the last four weeks then when you beat them?

I think they are doing a good job of running the football and taking care of the football better. I think that makes a difference. Their defense has played very well and they are really not giving up that many plays and they have made a lot of plays on special teams.

Are you surprised that you are the underdog?

No.

Why?

I have been the underdog my whole life.

The Steelers have a tough road here if they want to get to the Super Bowl. You almost did it a similar way in Baltimore. How tough is that?

I don’t want to compare. I hope the Steelers chances are very, very difficult to do that. I don’t think I can talk much about that.

 

Was it difficult to do in Baltimore?

Every game is difficult, whether or not you are at home. We lost home playoff games in Pittsburgh when I was there. Every game is a game inside itself. I think at some point I think it comes down to your preparation and how you go out and play and execute that particular Sunday. If you do that, it doesn’t matter much where you are playing. Sometimes because you are kind of sequestered amongst yourself a little bit, it may be good. But I think each and every game depends on the players and how they play that day.

How much of that experience in Baltimore is helping you this year?

I think quite a bit for our guys, just to realize that there is no set time frame or time period. You make hay when you can. I think that is important. You seize the moment, seize the opportunity and let’s have at it.

Were your losses the last weeks primarily the result of maybe the team letting up knowing what their playoff position was? 

We didn’t play good fundamental football. When you don’t play good fundamental football, you are going to lose. So I think those things are the concerns that I have, that we get back to playing football fundamentally, that we are coached to do it and know how to do it, and do it consistently.

Is the run defense the big concern that you have?

Everything concerns me.

Will the specifics of Roethlisberger’s performance in last year’s playoffs figure into your preparation, or is that not relevant?

I don’t know that that is relevant. He has played a lot of football since then.

Can you speak of the ability of your linebackers and defensive backs, for the most part being able to – when the opportunities are there, pick off the ball, catch the ball, and make a play defensively?  Coach Cowher was saying that when it comes to turnovers, that they have had some drops in that area.

I do believe it is important and I think we have guys that are very good athletes and they have good ball skills, they play the ball well in the air and you do have to take advantage of those things when an offense makes an error or mistake or whatever happens, whether it be a tip or just a tremendous defensive play. Hopefully, you can be in position to take advantage of it and make people pay for an error.

Do you do more work with them than most teams do?

I don’t think we do anything more than most teams do. We work on it all the time. I think it is important that you make those plays in practice all the time and you don’t have those just going through the motions plays that sometimes happen when you get a veteran football team. We certainly are not a veteran football team here. So we have to practice as though we are plying the game on Sunday each and every day. That is important and that is one thing that just kind of gets under my skin when I see guys trying to somewhat go through the motions.

You said everything concerns you. What concerns you most when you think about the Steelers?

They are a good team. They are well-rounded. They obviously can run the football very well. Their quarterback is very efficient with the football. They are playing fine, fine defense and special teams are making plays.

With all the national media attention you are getting, will this be a quiet week for Chad (Johnson)?

I think so. But you know, it is a long week.

 

QUARTERBACK CARSON PALMER

Heading into your first playoff game, is it a different feeling than a regular season game or even your first start?

Yeah definitely. You get the goose bumps going into this week on Monday and Tuesday. We found out we’re playing Pittsburgh. You realize how big of a game it is and how big it is for this city and this organization. You have to take it one game at a time and if you don’t handle your business and do things right, then you’re going home and nobody here wants to go home.

How big of a game is it since you’re playing Pittsburgh?

I think it’s even bigger. They’re everybody’s pick for the Super Bowl and everybody’s saying they’re the scariest team in the playoffs and they definitely are. They’re a great team. They hit a little bit of a bump in the road mid-way through the season and got things going lately. It’s a huge game and more so because it’s a big rivalry now. We feel they are a big rival of ours in our conference and it’s a game we need.

Did it take you long to figure out the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh rivalry when you got to there?

No, when I first got here it was Cincinnati and Cleveland. With this past year and hopefully the future, it looks like its going to be the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati rivalry, hopefully for years to come. It’s a great match-up for both teams. It can be an exciting game for the future.

Will you rely on Coach Marvin Lewis’ playoff experience?

Yeah, [He has] a Super Bowl win. We rely heavily on him to show us the way and to be our leader and he will be throughout the playoffs.

What have you done this year to cut down on turnovers?

I think I just got more comfortable and more confident with our offense, the guy’s around me and myself. The more experience you get, you’re naturally going to get better just because you know what balls you can fit into certain zones, what balls you can’t. You learn from mistakes; you learn from the good things. I’ve learned a lot from a coach that harps on fundamentals with me and really works with me. It’s been a combination of different things.

How much do you enjoy running the no-huddle offense?

It’s a lot of fun. It’s been good to us. We’ve done a good job with it throughout the season and when you get back in the huddle it takes some of the pressure off you. You get the calls through the headset. We’ve been doing a lot of that too. Whether we’ve been going no-huddle or huddling up, we feel confident in our offense that we can be successful in either.

Is the no-huddle meant to keep a certain defensive package on or off the field?

A little bit. Pittsburgh did a good job, the last time we played, of changing up their package against our no-huddle. You really can’t control what the defense is going to do. The advantage of it is that you can wear the defense out a little bit and get the tempo of the game going. As far as dictating what defense their coordinator has to be in, Pittsburgh’s proved that they can do anything they want and we’re expecting that.

Will the Steelers’ defense come up with something you haven’t seen before?

Oh definitely. They do a great job of that. Their coordinator, Dick LeBeau, does a great job of changing up looks and playing you different time in and time out. He’s done that to us in the past and has been very successful. Everybody talks about the familiarity of this game. To us, we’re not taking them lightly, we’re not expecting certain blitzes or certain packages. We’re expecting a little wrinkle here, a little wrinkle there, a change.

What do you expect from Troy Polamalu?

Another great game. In my eyes, he’s the best defensive player in the league. You have to count on him making a couple plays here and there and we’re going to do our best job to keep him out of the flow of the game because he’s a phenomenal player.

Do you think back to when Polamalu almost made an interception in the last game?

I asked him after the play, ‘what happened?’  He said he just guessed and ran there. That’s what Troy does. He’s got a great, natural feel for the game. He’s a good enough player to go out of coverage and do things that you’re characteristically not supposed to do on defense. [He] makes plays off of hunches that he has. He can do anything he wants back there. He’s a phenomenal player. He has a great feel for the game. He understands the game, he understands offenses and that play was just a product of him having a hunch of what play was coming and almost making a great play.

When you roomed together, did you talk about possibly seeing each other in the playoffs?

No, not really. I was [angry] that he got drafted to Pittsburgh and that I was going to have to play him a couple times a year, just knowing how good a player he was in college. You knew he was just going to get better once he got into the NFL. I wasn’t hoping or looking forward to that opportunity, just knowing what type of player that he is.