STEELERS VS. BUCCANEERS 
Post-Game Quotes
Sunday, December 3, 2006
at Heinz Field

Buccaneers Quotes

 

HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN

Should the offense move the ball better at this point?

 

We struggled obviously. We dropped some passes, had some penalties and missed some throws. Pittsburgh's pretty good. Put that all together and we struggled.

 

Talk about the turn of events where you get the short punt in good field position and don't convert it.

 

Obviously we have a wide open opportunity to make it a 10-7 game, but we don't make a play there. We overcome that and get a first down—first and goal. We lose yardage in our first-and-goal, we go for a high point to Maurice Stovall in a play we've been working on. It was just a bad throw and a good play by their corner. A little bit of both. We had opportunities to make plays today and I have to take responsibility for that.

 

Is there a level of frustration when you see the same mistakes?

 

It is. We got a turnover early in the game and had a third-and-two near midfield. And what looks like a big play, we mishandled a couple balls in key times. The pass protection at time, Pittsburgh got us. There's a lot happening right now for our young quarterback.  It's very ambitious what we are asking him to do.  All I can say is that we will put our heads together tonight on the way home and think about what our next step is.

 

Was it important to kick a field goal at the end of the game?

 

I'm sure I'll be criticized for that. I just wanted our quarterback to leave Pittsburgh with something. We left Pittsburgh with a field goal. Whether we kicked it or went for it, it's really beside the point. We have a lot of things to address.

 

Are you thinking about changing quarterbacks?

 

I'm not going to get into all that tonight. We have to play a lot better than we did to win in this league. It's not just the quarterback. We will take a look at every avenue we can to try and put our team in a better position.

 

Did the defense play well enough?

 

I thought the defense did some good things—some very good things. They did some change-ups tonight. I thought our defensive staff did some good things and our players did play hard tonight.

 

What can you attribute the offense's dropped balls?

 

I don't know. I would think that we have to be toward the top of the league in that. The young guys, in particular, are making some good plays, but not getting anything from it. Maybe we get a guy open and then miss the throw or we get a guy open and we don't catch the ball. You put that together and it's contagious. It's a disease that certainly has us right now.

 

 

 

 

Evaluate the pass protection tonight.

 

There were a couple passes that we took sacks, that we shouldn't have. There's no question about that. I don't think that stat sheet really represents how well some of the guys did pass protect. The Steelers are a tremendous defensive team in terms of all the things that they do. They've been doing it along time. They make it very difficult to run the football. We did try. But you have to throw the ball. We have to pick up the blitzes and throw the ball with some success. We were able to do that a little bit, but when it came down to it, we were not able to do it nearly enough.

 

Are you disappointed in the performance of Carnell Williams and Michael Clayton?

 

Again, it's very frustrating for all of us. We are worried about Clayton because he got hurt in the game. I don't know the severity of the knee injury. We have what we have now with one month left to play and we certainly will finish strong.

 

This is your third losing season. Any comments?

 

I'm sure that's well documented by now. The big thing is that we have work to do. It's obvious and we'll do the work.

 

Do you know the extent of Michael Clayton's injury?

 

You don't know when you are told that he can't complete the game. You are concerned.

 

Right before the half, did you not want to do the two minute offense with Bruce Gradkowski?

 

We did. We got the ball backed up inside our 20. We had a couple sluggish plays prior to that. We were going to be careful in that situation. Steelers are pretty good with the package in terms of what they are capable of doing. Giving the fact that it was a tight game and the field position, that was a decision we made.

 

Are you worried about Bruce Gradkowski's confidence?

 

Yeah. I'm worried about every part of Bruce Gradkowski's whole life. He's been through a lot the past three weeks. If you would have told me that he was going to be in Monday Night Football at Carolina, Thanksgiving Day at Dallas and at the defending World Champions and his home town, in a three weeks span, that's about as tough as order as you can ask any man. There have been some good moments and there have been some dark moments. I just want to remind everyone that he's a young quarterback that's really got an upside and unfortunately it just really didn't come through clear as day tonight.

 

19 – Ike Hilliard (WR)

 

You've had three losing seasons after the Super Bowl year.  How hard is that now to go through after the success?

 

It's frustrating.  It's a frustrating time.  I definitely thought we'd be a better football team than we are right now, but we're just not making the plays that we need to make when they're presented. 

 

Is there a way to pinpoint what's not happening? 

 

No.  No way at all.  We're playing hard.  We're getting to the ball, running hard.  It just hasn't worked out for us.

 

 

24 – Carnell Williams

 

How frustrating is it not to be able to make plays, the dropped balls, the penalties?

 

It's really frustrating.  It's basically been going on all season.  It's like one possession, we look like a good offense, and the next possession we look like we don't know what the heck we're doing out there.  It's tough.  I definitely can't put a finger on it, but we'll go back to work.

 

Should that not be happening at the end of the year?

 

I agree, man.  It definitely should not be happening.

 

Are you surprised about the two-minute drill at the end of the first half down 10-0?

 

Um, I don't know.  We actually were in a two-minute offense.  I know we felt like we were going to hand the ball to Pittman and maybe get a big run and that's what we're going to start with to catch the defense off guard because they were looking for a pass. 

 

You guys are 13 games into the season and you guys have a young offense.  Do you feel like that is no longer a reason for the quality of play?

 

Right, that's no longer a reason.  We're 12, 13 games in.  We've got a young offense, but that's not the reason.  We get paid and we should all man up.

 

It would be realistic to see some improvement week-to-week from the younger players that maybe isn't there?

 

To be honest with you I do feel like our young guys are getting better. Like I said, we've just got to make plays.

 

 

 

20 – Ronde Barber (CB)

 

How difficult was it for cover guys with Roethlisberger picking up yards with his feet?

 

It's frustrating.  We were playing a lot of man-to-man to stop the run – Willie Parker is a hell of a back and he is.  We stacked the line of scrimmage and played a lot of man-to-man, but we missed a couple of sacks and Ben, is somewhat mobile and he worked around and made some plays in the passing game. 

 

Are you surprised that a game at Heinz Field in early December didn't have the kind of meaning you would expect for a team that is the defending world champions?

 

No.  They're struggling like we are a little bit.  They're finding their way.  They're going through the same thing.  It's incredibly difficult to get yourself ready to play when you're not playing for a whole lot.  Pride is one thing, obviously it's your job, you've got to do that, but when you're used to playing for championships, making your way through the playoffs and you have to play somewhat meaningless games at the end of the year, it's tough.

 

 

7 – Bruce Gradkowski (QB)

 

Bruce, every young boy's dream is to come back home and play in front of their hometown.  What was that like for you?

 

It was an amazing opportunity.  I was thrilled to come back to Pittsburgh.  The fans in Pittsburgh and everyone around here has been so good to me.  Especially for all of the family and friends that got to come to this game to see me play. 

 

How many were here?

 

A lot.  I don't even know how many to count, but probably over 100.  Close family members and friends.  I wish we could have put on a better show and personally me also, but things happen like that and it was a great opportunity for me.

 

Can you talk about the turn of events where you guys don't convert and they go down and they score and they blow the game open.

 

We put a real good drive together in that third quarter and a couple plays we need to make and that interception in the end zone, he made a great play on it and that really turned it around.  They put a drive together and went down and scored and made it 17-0 and that's kind of what changed the game.  Against a good football team like that, you really can't turn the ball over.  Personally, I made a couple of bad decisions out there.  Two interceptions I'd like to have back and that stuff happens, I have to learn from it definitely and continue to move on. 

 

That first interception, was that one of those situations where you had Cadillac open in the flat and you probably should have checked it down?

 

I was off a little bit.  I was going to throw it to Cadillac and then I felt somebody run towards him, so you can never come back and throw late and that's one thing you can't do.  Even if you don't see the defender, there are guys out there.  Those are two plays that I'd like to learn from and I wish I could have back.