Zac Taylor on Bengals' Loss to Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

10/6/2024

Transcript

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.

Zac Taylor on Bengals' Loss to Ravens

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