What Joe Burrow and the Bengals Said After Defeating the Ravens

 

What Joe Burrow and the Bengals Said After Defeating the Ravens

Head Coach Zac Taylor

Opening statement: "I'm really happy. That was kind of the first all-around game we've played all season, it felt like. It wasn't perfect by any means, but road divisional wins on Thursday nights nonetheless never come easy. It started with our defense, the five turnovers, and just getting them off the field and giving our offense great field positions. Getting stops in huge moments when they had a chance to gain some momentum, getting some big stops. [I] couldn't be prouder of those guys. The offense picked it up in the second half with some of the touchdowns, and Evan McPherson coming up big with six field goals on a day that's not a perfect day. It's a cold day. It's a little windy. I thought he hung in there and did a great job for us. So, [I'm] really proud of our team."

On how fun it is to see QB Joe Burrow play football again: "It's a lot of fun to watch Joe Burrow play football. You could feel him get into a rhythm, and statistically, it's not the best game we've ever had as an offense, but you could feel the rhythm he was in and the confidence he was in. You could see him move around, you know, the scrambles, even those for four or five yards. I think it was good for everybody to see. This is a team that's been believing all along. It's never too late to get going. For us to find a win – we've got to piggy-back on this. The team's got a lot of confidence. We're going to continue to work and continue to fight."

On the defense putting consistent pressure on QB Lamar Jackson: "It's huge. I think the coaches did a great job with the plan. I thought [Defensive Coordinator] Al [Golden] called a great game. The players bought into it. Now you start to see when you get confidence getting those turnovers; it starts to come in bunches. We've got to continue to build off that. Now there's real evidence of it paying off for us and just continue to ride that momentum and keep finding ways to get the ball."

On having first-and-goal at the 2-yard line and not punching it in during the first quarter: "It's always been tricky here with these guys. They're playing [Cover] 0, basically, on four straight snaps. We've been in that situation before. It's always hard. The tape's difficult to find the answers. We came up short there. We'd obviously like to be able to get in on four plays, but we weren't able to do it. Again, just keep the faith, and the defense has got to get a stop, which they did. I know it only led to a field goal from there, but that's the way it goes sometimes when you're going to be aggressive."

On his first game back going the way that it did: "Obviously, I had to knock the rust off in the first half, so I expected myself to play better, but it was good to be out there. A lot of emotions running through it at the end of the game. It's just good to be back with the guys."

On how he would grade himself: "I thought the second half, I started to put it more where I wanted. I settled in a little bit. I certainly missed some throws that I typically make. But after that, I felt pretty comfortable back there. I thought the O-line did great, we ran it well. Obviously, the defense played great. I've just got to keep getting better."

Well, I'm trying to think. I think for the most part, you've got to give credit to them. They mixed up their looks down there. They zero-pressured us. They doubled Ja'Marr [Chase], they singled Ja'Marr. They did a lot of different things down there. At the end of the day, we have to make plays and put the ball in the end zone. We can't kick six field goals, but that's the kind of game that it was. Our defense was playing the way that it was, and the way we ran the ball, it was a 'take your points' kind of game. Obviously, the one that really hurt us was when we got the turnover down there and came out with no points. Typically, that's going to be tough to win the game, but we were able to pull it out

On the Ravens zero-blitz on all four snaps: "Yeah, that was really the only drive that they did that. And then the next couple of times, they were still playing some man, and like I said, doubling Ja'Marr [Chase] sometimes, not doubling Ja'Marr sometimes. But we needed somebody to make a play, and Tanner [Hudson] made that play on, in my opinion, the best safety in the league. He just continues to make play after play, and that one really opened the floodgates, so credit to Tanner for that one