Zac Taylor on Bengals' Loss to Ravens
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00:00Stick to my stomach for our guys in there.
00:02They fought, proud of them, but we got to find a way to win.
00:04We can't keep coming up one place short,
00:06and that's really what the game came down to.
00:08So, a lot that I admired about how our team fought.
00:12That was a good game against a great team,
00:15and we're going to find a way to rebound from this
00:18and move forward because I believe in the guys in that room.
00:21I know we're in a tough situation,
00:22but I believe we've got the guys to bring us out of it,
00:24and so I'm excited to see them do that.
00:25Can you tell us from your vantage point
00:27what you saw on Evan McPherson?
00:29I think just the overall operation wasn't good enough.
00:32Was there a risk that John Lee might be a possibility
00:34having a new putter in there or having a goalie in there?
00:35Is that kind of just part of it?
00:37We've kicked all year.
00:39What did you feel like was the biggest issue
00:41that you guys had on defense?
00:43We were aggressive. We were aggressive, you know,
00:45and we weren't going to stop being aggressive.
00:48I thought we did a tremendous job against the run,
00:50you know, until that last run of the game.
00:52Our guys did a great job,
00:54and they made some plays in the past game.
00:57I mean, you guys watched the same game I did.
00:58He runs around back there 20 yards deep
01:00and finds some explosives.
01:02Not many guys do that, and so that's...
01:05I thought our guys were relentless with their effort,
01:08and they were going to make some plays.
01:09We knew that, still gave ourselves opportunities
01:12to win the game, and we didn't take advantage of them.
01:14Up until the interception that Joe had,
01:17how would you rate the game
01:18and the way he was able to give you guys a score?
01:20I mean, the guy made a great play on the pick, you know,
01:22so obviously I haven't seen a replay of it,
01:25but certainly gave us plenty of opportunities to win.
01:30When you guys get the ball back in overtime
01:33after Brad recovers that, what's the mindset there?
01:36It's just trying... We're in field goal.
01:37We feel like we're in field goal range,
01:39and, you know, there is...
01:43We've thrown the ball in that situation before.
01:47We called the pass. Joe actually did a great job
01:49getting us out of it back into a run
01:50because the look was not there to throw it,
01:52and so there was good management by him.
01:56Still got a couple yards out of it,
01:57and then we're in a position to win the field goal,
01:58and we thought we'd win it with that.
02:00Zach, at the end of regulation,
02:01you get the ball back in three timeouts,
02:03about 20, can you take me through those three plays
02:05and how you feel like, obviously, the sack is the big one,
02:07but how did that unfold?
02:09Yeah, that's the big one, you know?
02:12You know, so that put us, I think, in second 17
02:14right off the gate,
02:15and I think they just got us with the game up front,
02:17so that changes you a little bit.
02:20We still pushed the ball down the field in the second play.
02:22It was a contested play that was incomplete,
02:24so then you get to third and 17, which is, I mean,
02:27the percentages tell you that's a very low percentage,
02:29so, yeah, you can throw the ball past the sticks.
02:33I mean, any team that's ever played the game,
02:35that's a low-percentage play.
02:36You're risking giving them the ball back with time
02:38with a kicker that can kick it from the length of the field,
02:40and so that's where we just ran out the clock
02:43and felt like we'd get ourselves another opportunity.
02:44Were you concerned about the team's ability
02:46to finish games at this point when the season's gone?
02:48Well, we've got to find a way to make that one more play.
02:50I thought today there was going to be some plays
02:52I pointed to where we did that,
02:54and unfortunately, the result was 41-38 them,
02:58so I was excited as we were there in the fourth quarter.
03:02I felt like we had made a lot of those plays
03:03that I was going to be able to be really positive about,
03:07but at the end of the day, it just didn't happen.
03:09Was that a conscious decision?
03:10You guys made the blitz as much as you did defensively?
03:12Yeah, yeah.
03:13And why?
03:14You've got to be aggressive.
03:16Obviously, they've got the top-rushing attack in football,
03:19and so we weren't just going to sit back there
03:21and just let them do it, so they've got a great quarterback.
03:25You've got to put pressure on them, make some plays.
03:27He answered the bell often, and that's what he does.
03:31How big a part of the game was you guys
03:32maybe got into the backfield and weren't able to finish?
03:36Yeah, I mean, that's just when you play him, you know that.
03:39He's strong. He's athletic.
03:41He's tough to bring down, and that's part of it.
03:44Our guys played him plenty.
03:45How big of an impact was it losing Dax
03:47as early in the game as you did?
03:48I mean, I thought Dax was playing
03:49really good football for us.
03:51He's worked really hard to get himself in that position.
03:54I don't know what the final diagnosis is going to be yet.
03:57I'll hold off on that, but certainly heartbreaking for him
04:01to work like he does if it is a bad deal.
04:04You said that you feel like you have the guys
04:06to climb out of a hole that you made on defense.
04:09What gives you confidence that you guys
04:11are going to be able to play at a higher level?
04:13I mean, that's one of the best offenses in football,
04:15and we played some really good offenses so far this year,
04:19and our defense has shown me enough to know
04:21that we can win a lot of games with these guys.
04:23They've proven that time and time again,
04:24and just because today, I know you're going to look
04:28at the scorecard and 41 points.
04:30Yeah, that's not good enough, but I believe in those guys,
04:34and I saw enough from each one of those guys
04:35to continue to believe in them.
04:37In hindsight, what's the risk-reward
04:38of trying to maybe get more yards,
04:39even after he checks out on second and third down,
04:41even though you're in field goal range,
04:42of trying to get maybe a few more yards
04:44to make that kick maybe a little bit closer?
04:46Does that even make an impact?
04:47You got to start over. What side of the ball are you talking about?
04:49Start over time when you don't get the ball back.
04:51Excuse me. What's the risk-reward
04:53of potentially trying to get, you know,
04:54maybe down more aggressive points, get more yards?
04:56A sack, a holding penalty,
04:58all the things that can knock you back, you know?
05:00So when you're in field goal range
05:01and you believe in your kicker, it really is as simple as that.
05:05This season started with expectations
05:08internally and externally of this
05:09being a championship-caliber team for you guys.
05:12At one and four, where do you go from here?
05:14I still believe in that.
05:15Were there some guys wide open in the end zone?
05:18Were there just some miscommunications on the back?
05:20I'll have to watch that to figure that out.
05:22Don't see teams call a time-out
05:24before attempting a late kick like a game-win kick.
05:26Was there an issue with the line of personnel?
05:28Yeah, we needed to because we'd reported,
05:30and he needed to call time-out to keep him in the game.
05:33Were you guys rotating in safety between Vaughn and Jordan?
05:36You know, we tried to play as many guys
05:38as we could to keep guys fresh,
05:39so that was part of what we were trying to do the whole game.
05:42Is this one of the more deflating losses
05:44you think you've had in the years?
05:45Listen, it's week five of the season,
05:47so it's disappointing that we just lost a great football team
05:50and a big game for us, but you're not going to see
05:53a lot of guys sitting in here just feeling sorry for ourselves.
05:56We still believe in each other,
05:58and we have a tremendous opportunity
06:00to show what we're about going forward,
06:02and so people can write us off if they really want to.
06:06I'm not dumb enough to do that, and so I believe in these guys,
06:09and I know what we showed out there today,
06:10and I showed that there's brighter days ahead
06:12in 2024 in this season,
06:14and I'm excited to watch these guys rebound and do that.