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ARTICLE
STEELERS PLAYER QUOTES
STEELERS PLAYERS LB Joey Porter General comment "We just made mistakes at the wrong
time. And you can't do that. It's just not acceptable. You can't make the
mistakes that we made in a close game like that and expect to
win." The defense seemed to be playing
well, but the offense put you guys in some tough positions out
there. "Yeah, but we still got 20 points.
We feel like 20 points is enough [to win]. But, at the same time, the mistakes
that we made at the wrong time – we're not where we want to be to overcome stuff
like that. Today definitely proved it. We had opportunities to win the game,
but, at the same time, the mistakes we made late in the game cost us the
game." Is it surprising to you that this
team would make those kinds of mistakes? "Yeah. That stuff is not supposed to
happen. We got ourselves back into the game. We had control of the game. The
defense was controlling the game. The offense was controlling the game. And
then, right after that [we made] too many mistakes for us to be able to bounce
back." When they went to the no-huddle,
they started to move the ball a little bit. Was that a matchup problem, or we
they just [executing] well? "No, because they went to the
no-huddle again, and we still stopped them [for] four or five series in a row.
They hit some plays, and they didn't hit some plays. It basically came down to
the mistakes that we made late in the game." S Ryan Clark General comment "We were playing Pittsburgh Steelers
football. And, one thing about us, we are going to run around and we are going
to try to hit. I think when you play an offense that is good like that, the best
thing that you can do is be physical. And it started up front with the front
seven." With falling to 1-2, what kind of
position are you guys in now? "It's not a panic position. I think
we have a good football team, but we've played other good football teams. So
rignt now, we just need to regroup, watch the film, come back and play better
next week." Is it a good time to have the bye
week, to regroup and get ready for "A bye week is always good for a
team, but you'd rather go into the bye week with a win. Now, the stain of this
loss has to be on us for two weeks. But we have a lot to work on as a team. I
think today we played well in spurts, but over the course of the game, [for] 60
minutes, the Bengals played better. And that's why they
won." It looked like after the muffed
punt, there were some helmets thrown on the sideline and people looked down. Did
the body language change after that? "Football is an aggressive sport. So
when you throw a helmet, that looks like aggression to me. That just means that
people get upset and want to go out there and make plays. It's not a situation
where we got down or anything like that. We compete, man. We want to win. When
you practice all week for a game, you want to win the game. I don't think it was
body language. I don't think we were dejected. But we knew we had to go out
there and make a play. If anything, we were upset as a defense that we didn't go
out there and hold them to field goals." What did you change from the first
half to the second half because it seemed you stopped them a lot of the time in
the second half? "We didn't change anything. We came
out there and played the same type of football. We had a sense of urgency. We
knew that we didn't need to let them score any more points because our offense
was moving the ball well on them all game. We knew that if our offense didn't
beat themselves, that their defense couldn't stop them. We just needed to get
the ball back. Guys played hard. It's football. Their guys get paid good money
too, and they were making some plays in the first half. We were able to kind of
curb that in the third quarter, but late in the game we gave up some big scores.
We need to work on that." WR Hines
Ward General comment "We had a chance to win that game.
We were right there in it. But we lost as a team. We turned the ball over, which
is something that we've been really good at this year. In the first two games,
we really didn't kill ourselves with turnovers. It's disappointing because,
offensively, we felt like they couldn't stop us. We stopped ourselves,
especially down in the red zone area. We have to learn from it. We have to grow
and take this and go into the bye week and come back. We can't afford to lose a
game like this, especially when we had a great opportunity to win this
game." Did the team lose its composure out
there a little bit? "I don't know. We did. We did some
uncharacteristic things. We got a couple of penalties against us, we turned the
ball over. It's frustrating because we felt like we were in control all day. We
came out in the second half, drove right down there [and] put up some points. We
continued doing that. [When] you turn the ball over, you don't give yourself a
chance to win any ball games." Defensively, you really shut them
down and if you don't turn the ball over, they are probably out there still not
doing anything? "Exactly. That's the encouraging
thing. Our defense did a hell of a job to keep us in the game. When we get down
in the red zone, we have to put touchdowns instead of field goals up. Basically,
that's the outcome of the game. That's the reason they won and we didn't. We
turned the ball over and didn't finish the plays when we needed
to."
It's also rare when you guys rush
the ball that well and lose. "We felt like they couldn't stop us.
In this business, what wins ball games is third down [success] and red zone
[success]. If you are good on third down, and you're good in the red zone, more
than likely, you win most ball games. Today in the red zone, we didn't finish it
off like we are supposed to." CB Ricardo Colclough What happened on the fumbled
punt? "I just took my eyes off the ball,
trying to see where the defenders were so I could try to find some place to go
to make something happen." Were you just trying to make a
play? "Just trying to make a play, that's
all. I was just over-anxious. I took my eyes off the ball and it bounced off my
hands." Did the wind have anything to do
with it? "No. I got a good read off of it. I
just took my eyes off it." At that point in the game, you
weren't under orders to make a fair catch or anything like that? "No. I don't remember exactly where
they had the ball, but it was more of an open-field kick. It wasn't close to the
50 [yard line]." It seems like in the first few
games, there have been a few punts that you've misjudged a little bit. Are you
having trouble judging the ball in the air? "No, it's just that sometimes the
ball tends to carry at the last minute. It's one of those things you really have
no control over – when the ball takes flight and sort of fades away from your
face to the left or right a little bit." Did that one dart at the last
second? "No, it didn't do anything. I got a
great read on it. I just took my eyes off of it." Do you feel there is a need
incumbent upon you to take the ball and run, instead of making the catch
first? "At the time that it happened, I was
just trying to make a play. I just took my eyes off of it. I should have looked
it in. It's just one of those things that I wish I could take back. But I can't
take it back. The game is over."
CB Deshea Townsend This defense is playing well enough
to win games. You could have beat "Could have. We didn't win. We have
to do enough to [win]. If they hold us to three [points], we have to hold them
to zero. If we score 20, we have to hold them to 19. That's what it's
about." In your wildest dreams, did you
think you'd go into your bye week at 1-2? "It could happen. One thing about
us, we know we have to fight. Nobody is going to quit here. Nobody is going to
point the finger. Everybody is going to go to work on Monday and keep
working." RB Verron Haynes How tough will it be to deal with
this loss for two weeks instead of just one? "Very tough. Obviously, we need to
come back and look at yourself in the mirror and play a better game, each
individual." That was a pretty big momentum swing
between Ricardo [Colclough]'s muffed punt and your
fumble. "Yeah,
definitely." Did you kind of feel the wind being
taken out of your sails a little bit? "Yeah, whenever there is turnovers
the momentum shifts. I have to do a better job of holding onto the ball. They
put their hat on it, and it's something that I take
personally." You said somebody got a helmet on
the ball. Were you fighting for extra yardage? "Yeah, I was diving for the first
and he hit the ball." OG Alan Faneca Coach [Cowher] said that this is the
type of game that will eat at you a little more than normal. Do you feel that's
correct? "Yeah, it's definitely going to
linger. It's one of those games that has the potential to down the road look
back on and say, 'we let one get away from us, and now we're fighting to make it
into the playoffs, or to make it to the [top of] the division.' It is one of
those games that you might look back on down the line. Hopefully, we don't, but
we might have to."
S Troy Polamalu Will the bye week be good for you
with your injury? "I think it will be good for
everybody. But regarding the injury, yes." When you have turnovers and they
strike in one play each time, how hard is that on a defense? "It's tough on everybody. Any time
you are put in that situation, it's tough on all three
phases." RB Willie Parker How tough is it to lose a game like
this? "It hurts. The reason why it hurts
is [because] I know the best team didn't walk off that field today. That's why
it hurts. We left a lot out there on the field. We left everything on the field.
We had a couple of mistakes – a couple penalties and a couple of turnovers. But
the best team didn't walk off the field." You had one of your better games
that was overshadowed by the loss. "I can't look at it like that. I
have to be my worst critic." You talked about finding your
identity. If that turnaround [in the game] didn't happen so quick and you win
this game, what do you think your identity would be? "I don't know. We didn't win, so I
can't tell you that. This loss is right on the right side of my heart. It's
tough." Does being 1-2 put you in the same
situation as 7-5 last year. Do you feel that same urgency? "No. It's just take it one game at a
time. Next up is
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