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Martz on Tuesday: 'We know what the issues are'
Martz on Tuesday: 'We know what the issues are'
Compiled by Jeff Gordon
STLtoday.com Sports
Tuesday, Nov. 30 2004
The Rams defense lost its fight Monday night in Green Bay. Coach Mike Martz
drew that obvious conclusion after reviewing the debris from that 45-17 loss at
Lambeau Field.
“I was very pleased with the first few series, anyway,” Martz said at his
Tuesday news conference. “As the second half moved on, I was disappointed
defensively just in some of the errors and mistakes that began to occur, guys
out of position. At one point, we had 10 people on the field. Those things are
unacceptable. We began to lose our focus somewhat on defense.
“It’s kind of a personal thing with some of these guys. We can’t lose the
resolve when things go bad. In the past, we’ve always been able to rebound. . .
. As it snowballed, they had a hard time with that.
“Some of the veterans, they get frustrated, they try to do a little bit more
than what they need to. They’ve got this gap and you try to do it all. You
think the ball is going there and you run over there and you’re not where the
ball is coming out.
“We’ve got to get this team playing better. It’s a step-by-step process. We’ve
got some veterans not playing as good as they should, or as well as they have
in the past, and some young guys learning how to play. That’s not a good
combination.”
* * *
More from Martz's press conference:
On the team’s porous rushing defense:
“As the game wore on, our run fits and fills were not what they should be. It’s
not a question of what defense you run or being complicated or anything like
that. It’s just having the discipline and resolve to fill where you’re supposed
to and you've got to make a play, make a tackle.
“When Aeneas (Williams) went out at free safety, there was significant
confusion out there, some of the calls and what not. We had a hard time on
their field. That may have contributed to some of the problems.
“We just have to be more physical and more disciplined in how we play. We know
what the issues are. It’s easy to look at the tape and find out ‘here’s what
you didn’t do right.’ You have to be tough enough as players and be accountable
enough to make those corrections and understand the discipline of playing the
defense. It’s that simple."
On the ill-fated fake field goal attempt:
“The decision was my decision, kind of at the last second, really. I just felt
like at that point we needed to try to make something happen. We talked about
it during the week and we felt like we had a pretty good opportunity to make
that play and it just didn’t work out. Just trying to make something happen to
get back in that game and get some points on the board.
“I wavered on the thing and then called it. We should have just burned the
timeout. I wanted to go for it. Put the offense out there and go for it, try to
get it in the end zone.”
On the team’s inability to convert in the red zone:
“We were in a couple of positions to make plays and get the ball in the end
zone and we just couldn’t quite get it done. They kept enough resolve to keep
going up and down the field, but when there is a play to be made in the end
zone, you’ve got to make that play.
“One of the things we had happen was a receiver fall down, that’s why (Bulger)
took a sack. He was ready to throw it and all of a sudden he’s not there. We
ended up taking a sack and backing ourselves kind of in that range where we
miss the field goal.
“That one pass he throws to Torry (Holt) that looks like its high, he was
shallow in the route. He had to let go of it quicker a little bit before he was
ready to. He had the one where he had Isaac (Bruce) coming clean on the post
inside and he had some bodies, he couldn’t get vision of the receiver and just
missed him.
“When you’re in a different scenario and you’re not trying to play catch up,
you want to run the ball down there, too. There were some good opportunities
down there that we were just unable to take advantage of.”
On the interception throwing into the end zone:
“We blocked the protection wrong. He had a linebacker scraping free to his face
and he just . . . he wishes he could take that one back. That was unfortunate.”
On Marshall Faulk’s inability to get anywhere on the ground:
“We had a couple of bad plays that had nothing to do with Marshall. He didn’t
have a whole lot of opportunity.”
On Isaac Bruce’s two fumbles that were returned for touchdowns:
“(The defender) did a nice job of stripping the ball out of there in the
beginning. The other one he just got clocked in the head and kind of went limp
and the ball came out. I know those are two big, big plays and he feels
terrible. He’s pretty wiped out emotionally about that, to be honest with you.
Isaac is Isaac. He is such a terrific competitor. He plays his heart out.”
On the play of special teams:
“Best effort in terms of kickoff yardage. Held them to 18 yards per return on
average, which is a significant improvement. We had two punts down inside the
20, which is very, very important. Very pleased with special teams overall.”
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