Zac Taylor on Bengals' Loss to Steelers
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00:00 - Pat, what did you think were the biggest keys
00:02 to the Steelers getting out of there with a win today?
00:05 - I think it started out how we assumed it was going to,
00:08 you know, on a day like today against a team like that.
00:11 First half, seven-three, coming in the half,
00:13 and just what I talked to the team about is,
00:15 you know, when we get opportunities,
00:16 ball in the red zone, we gotta come away with points.
00:20 We get an opportunity at the end of half
00:21 to maybe pin 'em down there deep,
00:22 as opposed to touch back and let our defense get a stand
00:25 and get the ball back.
00:26 We gotta take advantage of it.
00:27 And then when we do pin 'em down there,
00:29 you know, at the 11-yard line,
00:30 we can't let 'em pop out on the first play.
00:32 And so I think you just look at the entirety
00:34 of the team there, and there were some situations
00:35 that we certainly could've handled better,
00:37 that in a one-score game, you know,
00:40 can end up being the difference.
00:41 And, you know, credit to Pittsburgh,
00:43 they handled those situations,
00:44 and I thought we could've done a better job of that today.
00:46 - Zach, why was Prior Mookie able to have such a?
00:49 - He made some one-on-one plays.
00:52 You know, I thought that there were a lot of times,
00:54 we were tight in coverage, and there were some times
00:55 he's over the ball in zone coverage,
00:57 and they put it on him, and he goes down quickly.
00:59 So again, we'll watch the tape
01:01 and see really what the issue was there.
01:04 - How much of the inability to run the ball
01:05 really hampered you guys,
01:06 and what was the issue in the run game?
01:08 - Yeah, that's life for Pittsburgh.
01:09 You know, and you know that's what's gonna happen.
01:11 It's gonna be tough, sledding.
01:13 When you're running the ball,
01:13 we need to get more production out of that.
01:15 Takes the pressure off the pass game.
01:17 You know, that's what they rely on.
01:18 They rely on taking off the run
01:19 and being able to rush the passer
01:21 and putting you in your own passing situations.
01:22 And so we gotta do a better job, you know,
01:26 just managing the drives as we go
01:29 and putting ourself in a little bit
01:30 more advantageous situations.
01:33 Obviously, you know, if you can put yourself
01:35 in a situation where you call more runs,
01:37 and you're not in second and 10, second and long,
01:39 third and longer, you can get more runs off,
01:41 then eventually some of those runs
01:43 start to get you bigger gains.
01:44 And we didn't get an opportunity to get enough runs off.
01:47 - Is volume an issue right now in the run game?
01:49 - We only had, what, 40 plays, I think,
01:51 and you're gonna look at a lot of them
01:52 as two minute and third down.
01:54 So at the end of the day,
01:55 you just gotta look at normal down plays, run and pass.
01:57 And we tried to do our best to keep some balance there,
02:01 but there wasn't a lot of opportunities in this game.
02:03 - What's your confidence level in Joe Mixon right now?
02:05 - Very high.
02:06 This has nothing to do with Joe Mixon.
02:07 This is the entirety of the unit coming together.
02:10 And so don't make this about one person.
02:12 You know, it's not like there was missed opportunities there
02:15 from what I could see.
02:16 You know, he continues to run hard
02:17 and he's given us what we needed this season.
02:20 - What did you think of Jake's first third?
02:22 - What's that?
02:23 - Jake Browning's first third.
02:24 He knows some things really well for us, you know,
02:25 and it's a tough task to play a divisional game
02:28 versus a good defense in your first game.
02:31 There's gonna be plenty of things he can learn from.
02:34 You know, I told him just walk up,
02:35 this is just the first chapter in his story, you know,
02:37 of getting to play a real football game
02:39 and getting a chance to assess his performance
02:41 and rebound and move forward
02:42 and still have all the confidence in the world in Jake.
02:45 - Was Chase Brown able to run the ball today or was it-
02:49 - We just didn't have any opportunities.
02:51 You know, I mean, Mixon had eight carries.
02:53 And so you take away one or two of those
02:55 and he gets six, you know, so again, we need more snaps.
02:59 We need to get more first downs that give us more snaps.
03:02 That can be defensively, you know,
03:03 getting them off the field a little quicker.
03:05 So we get more possessions, but at the end of the day,
03:08 I think the offense has got to find a way
03:10 to generate more production, get points on the board,
03:12 keep the defense off the field
03:13 and take some of the pressure off of them.
03:15 - There were some penalties,
03:16 looked like there was some miscommunications.
03:18 Can you pinpoint, you know, why that's been happening
03:20 and how you can fix it at this point in the season?
03:22 - The ones that stand out to me,
03:23 there's no PI that's a bam, bam play.
03:25 You know, it is, we are going to be blocking downfield
03:28 after the catch.
03:28 It's just a timing issue of when you can do it.
03:30 And I think they dropped a defensive end.
03:32 And so it happened a little quicker
03:33 than, you know, you're really planning for it happening.
03:36 And so that's unfortunate there.
03:38 And I know we had a false start one time on a third and five
03:41 that puts in a third and 10.
03:42 And so we cannot have that.
03:43 You know, that's a communication issue
03:44 that we got to be better at.
03:46 And, you know, so again, things that we got to continue
03:48 to just assess them all as a whole and see.
03:52 Some of them are just going to be part of playing the game.
03:54 And some of them we can certainly clean up
03:56 and we got to assess, you know,
03:57 which, where they all fall into.
03:59 - Kind of that and expanding off that,
04:00 like, are there reasons, some things that were strengths
04:02 of the roster last year
04:03 might not have carried over into this year?
04:05 - I think we have a really good football team, you know,
04:08 and we just got to find a way to get wins here.
04:10 We're on a three game stretch now.
04:12 We haven't found a way to do that.
04:13 We had a great stride going into these three games.
04:15 And so again, that's kind of how the NFL season goes.
04:18 You're going to hit stretches
04:19 and you got to find a way to overcome them
04:21 and regroup.
04:22 And I told these guys, Monday night football
04:24 is the perfect opportunity
04:25 to be able to put your best foot forward
04:26 and change the narrative
04:27 of what's happened these last couple of weeks.
04:29 And I've got confidence this team
04:31 will rebound the right way this week
04:32 and put in the work they need to.
04:33 - There was a flag call, Zach,
04:35 on their only touchdown.
04:37 What did you see on that flag?
04:39 And did you get any communication
04:41 as to why they picked up the holding?
04:43 - You know, the initial call was holding
04:44 and then they decided it wasn't holding.
04:46 So that's really all there is to it.
04:48 - Is it even more frustrating
04:50 when some of the same things continue to happen
04:52 on the defensive side of the ball,
04:53 whether it be explosive plays
04:55 and shoring up the run defense?
04:56 - I mean, you know, they keep points off the board.
04:59 That's what we want.
05:00 And, you know, to hold them to three points
05:02 in the first half,
05:03 I feel like offensively we can do more
05:06 on that first drive of the second half
05:08 to build a 10 to three lead
05:09 or 14 to three lead maybe.
05:11 And then the defense can really play the style of ball
05:13 that they want to play.
05:14 And so again, we'll assess the performance by everybody
05:18 and what we need to continue to improve on.
05:20 I saw some really positive things
05:21 from our defense tonight as well.
05:23 - Is that where you'd say the game turned a bit
05:25 in their favor, is that interception?
05:26 - Well, I think just the turnover battle in general
05:28 is something we preached all week
05:29 and we ended in a tie.
05:32 We had the lead in halftime.
05:33 You got to find a way to get one out
05:35 on defense or special teams.
05:36 That was a big part of it.
05:37 You know, so that factors in as well.
05:38 And we just got to do a great job protecting the ball.
05:40 - How much was kind of what you wanted to call
05:43 similar to what you would had Joe been able to play?
05:46 - Well, it's a hard question to answer
05:48 because sometimes when you play these divisional opponents,
05:50 the whole game shifts.
05:50 You know, these are some of the best defenses in the NFL
05:53 when you play the three teams in our division.
05:55 And so you got to play a certain way against these teams.
05:57 So, you know, we didn't have Joe this week,
06:00 so I didn't game plan with Joe.
06:01 So I can't really answer that question.
06:04 Just know that, you know, we got to be situational sound.
06:06 We got to win the turnover battle.
06:07 Can't have the penalties that we had today
06:08 in order to win games like this.
06:10 - Logan got picked up at the end there, you know.
06:12 - I think ankle, I think.
06:13 Don't know the severity of it.
06:15 Again, there was only a couple of plays left in the game.
06:18 So unknown whether or not he could have come back.
06:20 - Big picture wise, how big of a dent
06:22 is this put in to what you want to do, where you want to go?
06:25 - We just, we have to move our focus forward.
06:26 There's nothing we can do to change this one.
06:28 And it's important that these guys just,
06:30 and I trust that they will,
06:31 the leadership's going to continue to step up.
06:33 These guys are going to remain close.
06:35 Our attention to detail has got to continue to be sharp
06:38 and just find ways to win in December.
06:40 And that's, this team has shown the ability
06:42 to do that in the past.
06:44 And again, I assume that we're going to play
06:46 a lot of teams coming forward
06:48 that have a lot of adversity of their own,
06:49 whether it's injuries or whatever it is.
06:51 So again, Nolan's sitting around feeling sorry for herself.
06:53 We've got to pull ourselves up and we've got to find a way,
06:55 just find a way to get wins
06:57 coming down here in the stretch.
06:58 And that starts Monday night.
07:00 - How do you think Jake managed the,
07:01 like the aggressiveness part of the game?
07:02 You know, when to take shots, when to check the ball down?
07:05 - Yeah, I thought he made some great throws
07:06 that allowed us to move the ball down the field.
07:08 And so again, that's all going to be part
07:11 of the experience process with him.
07:12 The more he gets to play,
07:14 the more comfortable he's going to be.
07:17 You know, they had,
07:18 that's one of the better defensive lines in the NFL,
07:21 you know, and so they pose a lot of issues.
07:22 And the truth of it is when you get behind
07:26 and they get to really play to their strengths,
07:28 that becomes a challenge.
07:29 And for a guy in his first start,
07:31 we got to do a great job taking that pressure off of him
07:34 and finding a way to play with the lead.
07:36 - Jack, are you looking for him
07:37 that Joe Burrell's going to have surgery on Monday?
07:40 - Yes.
07:41 - Yes.
07:42 - Yes.