Post-Game Quotes from Spags & Players

[Nick]

Rams at Seahawks Postgame Quotes - Rams Coach/Players
Posted 02 January 2011

RAMS HEAD COACH STEVE SPAGNUOLO

“Obviously disappointed. I’ll start out by saying, win or lose, I think God always has his hand on this football team. I’m always going to say that and I’m grateful for that. I’ll credit Seattle and wish them luck next week. They played better. They won and we lost. A lot of things we certainly could have done better. I am proud of the football team for what they accomplished. That might make a little more sense tomorrow. The disappointment is all we feel right now. Probably got to get a good night sleep somehow and then reflect back on some of the things we might have done really good. I think injury-wise we got through okay. The only guy at the end there, Reggie said something might have been Chris Long’s hand. I don’t really have any idea what it is but we’ll take a look at it. With that, I’ll open it up.”

(On why he thinks they weren’t able to move the ball)
“Yeah. Field position was an issue. I can’t remember on all the swings of series but it seemed like a lot of them we were always coming out of our own end zone, you know, inside the 20. Even the drive we had for a field goal was an 80 yard drive, or 80-something. I know it was a long drive. I don’t know… Field position, maybe they punted it real well. We must have been giving up a little yardage defensively to have them move but field position was an issue, especially in the second half when I recall.”

(On Steven Jackson only having about 10 carries)
“I would have to look at it. We’re not counting them and all that as we go. I’d have to go back to down and distance situations and then you’re not gonna bang your head against the wall but do what we had to do to try to move the ball.”

(On if it was busted coverage on the deep completion to Ruvell Martin on Seattle’s first drive)
“It wasn’t a busted coverage. I think we got a little over-aggressive on the – he pumped it to the little flair route or the bubble screen, and then held onto it a little bit and then found him (Martin). That hurt us early because it gave them field position and they ended up with a touchdown on I think that drive.”

(On what he tells the players after the game)
“Well, I told them – there’s not a lot to say neatly after the game. We’ll get together tomorrow. Certainly, we’re all disappointed. I did tell them that I appreciated their efforts this year from the bottom of my heart because I thought the work ethic and what they did, hanging together and enjoying each other and some of the things we did along the way, I was very appreciative of that. Other than that, to stand in front of the team as disappointed as they are right now… I don’t spend a lot of time; I’ll do that tomorrow.”

(On the play that was called incomplete when Bradford threw to the sideline near the goal line and might have been a first down)
“The view up above – now the guys did get that one in the box and it didn’t appear to us that it was gonna get overturned. Some thought he was in, some didn’t. So once they make the call the way they did, now you got to have indisputable evidence that it goes the other way so we didn’t do it.”

(On if the Seahawks did anything that surprised him with Charlie Whitehurst at QB)
“He kept plays alive. I give him a lot of credit. We weren’t able to finish him sometimes and somewhere in there we did, and I think we got a penalty or something. It’s just how it went.”

(On if the Rams just weren’t quite ready for this big of a stage)
“I don’t think so. We can dig and pick. We can do that all night if you want, try to find out what happened. We’re not going to have a lot of answers. Seattle played better. I mean I’m sure after I get done watching the film, we’ll find that we could have done this… Because you can do that anytime. We could have gotten this play, that play… You know what? Seattle played better. They executed some things, we didn’t. They won.”

(On if it was his strategy to have the defense keep it tight until the offense could make a play and get something going)
“No. We try to score points. We threw a couple deep early that didn’t connect. Those connect, you know, it’s a whole different deal. You flip the field position but they didn’t connect. That has nothing to do with philosophically trying to keep the game tight. No, not at all. Go out and get ahead. Score points. Score as many as you can.”



QB SAM BRADFORD

(On what caused the offense to struggle)
I don’t know. I think one of the reasons is we never got in a rhythm. We never came close to getting into a rhythm. We put together one drive early in the game and then after that it seemed like it was three-and-out. We might make one decent play, and then…it was just tough to find any rhythm today.

(On if Seattle did anything differently this time since their last meeting)
Not really. I think it was on us. I think it was on us executing, something that we just didn’t do tonight. We’ve just got to be better as an offense.

(On the cause of so many tipped passes)
I don’t know. I think a couple of times they did get through and get their hands up. Credit their D-linemen. I think early in the game, when they weren’t going to get to me they just stopped and tried to time my throws and jump and got their hands on some balls. It was really frustrating when things like that happen, but I’ve got to find a way to find a throwing lane and make sure that doesn’t happen.

(On what can be done to establish a rhythm when a rhythm is absent)
Go to what you do best. Get some easy completions, get some first downs, whatever you have to do, whatever your best run plays are, go to those. You’ve just got to get a couple first downs and keep yourself on the field.

(On how surprising it is to be unable to find a rhythm in the 16th game)
Very surprising, especially early in the game when [in] third-and-short, an area that we’ve been very good at all year – to not convert on two third-and-ones, I think that hurt us. And then we’ve got to be just much more efficient on third down.

(On minimizing the run, if was checking out of plays or the game plan)
A little bit of both. There were a couple of times where I threw the keys or the bubbles when they were putting eight in the box. A couple of times we let it roll against eight in the box. But for the most part the box was loaded all day and they were trying to take away our running game. I think that’s one of the reasons why we didn’t see a lot of runs today.

(On his interceptions)
It was just a bad ball. I thought Gibby [WR Brandon Gibson] was going to sit down. He ended up going around the guy. We just weren’t on the same page right there, and I can’t throw it. If I don’t see him turn around, I can’t put that ball there.

(On the level of frustration he feels)
I don’t even know if I can tell you right now. The fact that our defense played, in my opinion, pretty great tonight, the fact that we let the team down, that we couldn’t get anything going, that’s what really hurts. Tom come in here and only score six – that’s just not the way you want to end the year.

(On if crowd noise was a factor)
No, it really wasn’t. I thought that was one thing that we did handle really well tonight, was the crowd noise. We never really had any issues with it. We were able to communicate at the line when we had to check, so I thought our guys did a great job of handling that and paying attention to me when I did need to change things.

(On if he’s shocked that the season is over)
It’s hit me, but I don’t know if it’s going to hit me until tomorrow or Tuesday when I’m not watching film of the opponent for the next week. It’s just frustrating to get this far and have an opportunity to make the playoffs and to come up short is frustrating.



RB STEVEN JACKSON

(On his own play)
At this point, I just tried to make the most of the carries when my number is called – receiving or rushing, I just tried to make the best of it. Try to make something happen for the offense and the team.

(On what made it tough to get the offense going)
We had a couple of good drives. We had one drive that goes for almost 90 yards, and we came up short with a penalty, I believe. So we were able to move the ball. We did go through some spots where we had a couple of three-and-outs in a row. But for the most part, we just were out of sync like you said, but I don’t think they completely shut down the offense.

(On if he can say anything about Sam Bradford except the future is bright)
He’s a very good quarterback. He’s going to be a quarterback that leads this organization and this team for a long time. If you want to look for positives in this situation, I think he’s a very bright spot.

(On the most disappointing aspect of the loss)
It was disappointing; you come into a game that’s a must-win, winner-takes-all, and we just came up short. For whatever reason we just came up short. It’s very disappointing. It’s very difficult. Now the season is over.

(On the possible perception that the game/season was a failure)
I don’t know. From a fan’s point of view, I don’t think so. I know there’s different views. You guys in the press box watching, I don’t know what you guys thought, but I thought emotionally I felt guys were jacked up and ready for the moment. Seattle did a good job. They outplayed us today. We knew what was at stake. We were well-aware of what was at stake, and they came out with the win.

(On if the team still believed it could win until Seattle’s final field goal)
With the game being just one possession, and the defense, although they were on the field a lot, they were still maintaining to keep it to a one-possession game. We missed some opportunities and we just weren’t in sync today.



LB JAMES LAURINAITIS

(On his reaction to the loss)
It’s disappointing. We didn’t make the plays that we needed to [in order] to win. Our goal was to win the NFC West and we didn’t accomplish that. But I know this will be motivation for me. To get this close and not get it done is very disappointing.

(On what Charlie Whitehurst brought to the game)
He scrambled a lot more. I thought with play-action he was able to do some things. I don’t know if we had any missed tackles on those. When he’s able to escape, it gives him more time to look for open receivers or scramble for chunks of yardage.

(On if he ever felt St. Louis had the game)
Our guys were prepared. We had a great game plan. They made more plays. That’s what it comes down to. There wasn’t one point in time where you felt like the thing was over until the last drive. I’m proud of the effort my team has given all year. We’ll remember this and use this as motivation in the off-season.



WR DANARIO ALEXANDER

(On what happened on the deep pass to him that fell incomplete)
“The ball was in the air and I just didn’t get my hands on it. There’s no excuse for it. I should have made the play but it didn’t happen.”

(On the pass that he got his hands on but couldn’t haul in)
“I kind of got my fingertips on it, kind of bobbled it a little bit but there’s no excuse for that. I’m (supposed) to make big plays for the team and I didn’t do my job today.”

(On what led to around seven three-and-outs today for the Rams offense)
“I’m not really sure. We just couldn’t get in a rhythm basically. We just couldn’t get in a rhythm as an offense.”

(On how much of a factor the 12th Man of the Seahawks fans was today)
“It was a pretty big factor. They’ve got a great atmosphere here and they actually showed it out today. Still, we have no excuses for what happened today.”

[drummerseahawkboy]

12th man baby

[NJ Ramsfan1]

12th man baby

Hardly. Your 12th man is overrated. What was the home record this year? Our loss was because of horrendous execution- nothing else.

Enjoy the win. New Orleans 38 Seattle 10.

[supachump]

Bradford says the noise wasnt a problem, but Danario said it was a factor. Strange. Maybe Danario needs to focus more.

[supachump]

12th man baby

lol. You better get a 13th and 14th man for the Saints game.

[hill_Bartell=Probowl]

lol. You better get a 13th and 14th man for the Saints game.

Still won't work

[FestusRam]

Bradford says the noise wasnt a problem, but Danario said it was a factor. Strange. Maybe Danario needs to focus more.

Or maby they both just have different opinions of how the crowd noise affected them.

Bradfords the guy yelling the calls while danario is next to the sideline trying to here them..I'm going to go out on a limb here and say crowd noise would've affected the player hearing more as opposed to the player calling

[sosa39rams]

12th man? We'll see about that next year. I wanna see what A.J Green has to say about that

[ZiaRam]

lol. You better get a 13th and 14th man for the Saints game.

lol They better get unretire Steve Largent or somebody cuz they about to get that *** stomped!!

[LeonardLittlesLiver]

Bradford says the noise wasnt a problem, but Danario said it was a factor. Strange. Maybe Danario needs to focus more.

I was there and it was a factor. I watched the game on DVR the next day and there was a play where Bradford was talking while in the shotgun, empty backfield. He was jabbering away but I have been on that field when the crowd wasn't nearly as loud and I had to scream for my partner to hear me and he was standing right next to me. Bradford wasn't even yelling or putting anything into his cadence while back there on more than 5 plays that I could see to count. Almost as to try to give the appearance that the noise wasn't bothering him. I read somewhere that either he or someone else said they never used the silent count which is total BS. Instead of his leg, he was using a motion from his arm to take the snap. I noticed though that whenever he made that motion that the ball was snapped immediately instead of a pre-determined count following the motion. Maybe that is what he meant by not using it.

I will say this, the noise didn't force the Rams offense into a bunch of fals starts, in that manner they did handle it well. Have no doubts, the noise was a factor though, the jump that Clemons had on a few plays was huge and it did force throws. By nature, it is hard to get sacks against a system where the QB is getting the ball out of his hands quickly, but they ended up getting to him anyways. It was louder than I have heard it in a long time Sunday night and there is no way anyone could hear anything on the line. The fans didn't turn it up in the huddle like they have sometimes and that might have been what Bradford was talking about.

I read another post that the Seahawks didn't win this game, that the Rams didn't execute.

Hogwash..... Seattle's defense shut down Jackson and tackled very well and that, is why the Hawks won that game.

STL had an awesome year, they really got on track this year and I respect that. They are only going to get better over time. That said, Seattle won that game with heart and a 2nd half running game.

[fliptalianstallion]

I was there and it was a factor. I watched the game on DVR the next day and there was a play where Bradford was talking while in the shotgun, empty backfield. He was jabbering away but I have been on that field when the crowd wasn't nearly as loud and I had to scream for my partner to hear me and he was standing right next to me. Bradford wasn't even yelling or putting anything into his cadence while back there on more than 5 plays that I could see to count. Almost as to try to give the appearance that the noise wasn't bothering him. I read somewhere that either he or someone else said they never used the silent count which is total BS. Instead of his leg, he was using a motion from his arm to take the snap. I noticed though that whenever he made that motion that the ball was snapped immediately instead of a pre-determined count following the motion. Maybe that is what he meant by not using it.

I will say this, the noise didn't force the Rams offense into a bunch of fals starts, in that manner they did handle it well. Have no doubts, the noise was a factor though, the jump that Clemons had on a few plays was huge and it did force throws. By nature, it is hard to get sacks against a system where the QB is getting the ball out of his hands quickly, but they ended up getting to him anyways. It was louder than I have heard it in a long time Sunday night and there is no way anyone could hear anything on the line. The fans didn't turn it up in the huddle like they have sometimes and that might have been what Bradford was talking about.

I read another post that the Seahawks didn't win this game, that the Rams didn't execute.

Hogwash..... Seattle's defense shut down Jackson and tackled very well and that, is why the Hawks won that game.

STL had an awesome year, they really got on track this year and I respect that. They are only going to get better over time. That said, Seattle won that game with heart and a 2nd half running game.

Well I've finally gotten over the win. You deserved it and shockingly, I want the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl just to see how many heart attacks you can give to these "experts" and the media.

[LeonardLittlesLiver]

I hear that. Just as I would be pulling for the Rams to do the same. To them, it is all about glorification of their big story East Coast teams. None of them understand how close the Rams were to being 10-6. They don't know how tough it is in this division to get division wins. They see the record and think that the NFCW. Is a division of pushovers when really, a bounce here or there and things are different. I would have gladly rooted for the Rams to run the playoff table. It would have caused a major uproar and that would have been fun.

Obviously I know what the Seahawks chances are of even getting by the home playoff game, not very good, but until the game is played and over, they still have a chance. Could you imagine the chaos just beating the Saints would cause? Taking out a NFL darling? It sure would be fun.

[LeonardLittlesLiver]

I should add that this whole problem was created by the Whiners. They were supposed to be the 10-6 minimum division winners by a mile. The table was set, or so they thought, then 2 things happened. Sam Bradford and Pete Carroll. Then the Whiners had to actually become the embarassment of the division.