2012 Post Game Quotes
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Heinz Field ▪ Sunday, October 7, 2012
Coach Tomlin: It’s awesome to get out of here with a win against a very good team. Obviously,
we weren’t really sharp early, particularly with some self-inflicted wounds, some things that
usually occur when you come out of a bye, penalties and so forth. We have to get better in that
area. But I am thankful that we were able to do what was necessary to win. Offense, defense,
and special teams, a lot of contributions from all three phases. More than anything, the guys were
resilient. They stayed together. They delivered the necessary plays down the stretch, which is
important and the difference between winning and losing. From an injury standpoint, there’s a few
to note. [LaMarr] Woodley has a right hamstring; we don’t know the severity of it. We’ll see.
Working on a short week is probably not a good sign for him, but we’ll go day-to-day with that.
Troy [Polamalu] re-aggravated his calf. Again, we don’t know the extent of it. Same thing, working
on a short week, we’ll see. Ike Taylor was able to go back in the game. He should be fine. The
rest are bumps and bruises that go along the way. I tip my hat to Philly. They’re a good team and
I’m thankful we were able to win.
Re: RB Rashard Mendenhall’s performance:
I thought it was a good start. He’s always a highly conditioned guy. Obviously, he has to get a
little bit more ball security. It was a great place to begin and I though he not only ran well and
hard and caught the ball, but he was a source of energy for the unit. That’s what great players do.
They inspire those around them. I thought he did that for the group.
Re: LB James Harrison’s conditioning:
James is another guy that’s highly conditioned. He’s in the building on off days working on
conditioning and at lunch time on a daily basis. We’re going to watch him but it became evident
that he was game-ready from a conditioning standpoint. It was tight ballgame and we needed his
services.
Re: The weather playing a factor in getting into field goal range:
I wasn’t worried about the rain. I just was worried about his range. That was pre-determined
before the game and we don’t vary from that. We don’t let the game circumstances get us tight in
terms of our decision-making. We knew where he was. The weather wasn’t significant. I was
more concerned about young Drew [Butler] on the hold. He did a nice job.
Re: Performance of the offensive line:
We ran the ball well. I think we were over 4.5 yards per carry. We protected the quarterback.
They did the job today.
Re: The game-winning drive:
We had the ball last. Such is life. A week or so ago, before went into the bye, Oakland had the
ball last. Sometimes, it’s who’s got the ball last.
Re: Defense forcing turnovers:
Sometimes they’re just a by-product of doing what it is you’re supposed to do and doing it in the
manner that you’re supposed to do it. I thought we did that. We were aggressive. The guys were
where they were supposed to be. They were playing hard and pursuing the ball. Sometimes it’s
just a by-products and I think that was the case in most instances.
Is it troubling that the defense gave up a fourth-quarter lead again?
No.
Does the fourth quarter bring out the best in QB Ben Roethlisberger?
Yep.
What do you attribute that to?
I think all of the guys that you can make an argument for being franchise quarterbacks, I think
that’s the common tie that binds them. They come in many different forms, shapes, and sizes and
skill sets. Some of them are pocket passers. Some of them are mobile. But, the reality is if they’re
in that discussion it’s because they deliver when it’s time to deliver. No question, I don’t care who
you’re talking to, [Roethlisberger] is in that discussion.
Re: WR Emmanuel Sanders third down catch on the game-winning drive:
I’m not going to go through the progression with you. Obviously, he was an option.
Steelers Players
Rashard Mendenhall
When did you start feeling really comfortable out there?
From the beginning I felt comfortable. I felt comfortable throughout the week. Day in and day out
just working at it throughout the week. I knew when I stepped out there I knew that I would be
comfortable and just wanted to go out there and play the best that I could, and I was able to do
that.
Was there a play to let you know that everything was alright?
I wasn’t really thinking about it. I have just been preparing for this moment and this time. I wasn’t
really thinking about my leg at the time, I was just doing everything that I could for the team.
Were you disappointed that you didn’t get to get the last first down on the last drive?
Not really, I’m just taking it a play at a time, doing everything that I can. Luckily we were able to
get the ball down there and get the win, so I’m just happy with that.
How did the touchdown feel?
It felt great, but there is a lot more work to be done, and a lot more to come.
Re: On the touchdown play:
I just chipped and got out on a swing. I guess Ben Roethlisberger didn’t have anywhere to go with
the ball, so I was an outlet. As a one-on-one a running back wants to win those and I was able to
do that.
Did you know that the touchdown play was running yards?
I saw that later. Thinking about it the ball did hit me on the back shoulder, so I could see it being
behind the line, and we’ll take free rushing yards.
Was that the same play as the pass on the final drive?
No, I looked similar but some of them are play calls, and some just end up happening like that.
That was a designed swing and the tackle was able to get down the field to get some blocks, and
it worked pretty well.
Could you have come back a few weeks ago?
I’m not sure, it just wasn’t the time. There was still some steps that I needed to take, and
everybody wasn’t fully comfortable. I think everything happened as it should, being out here
today.
Are you worried about the short week coming up?
Not really, like everything I’ll just take it a day at a time. Luckily today they held me out some. I
wasn’t in for an extensive amount of plays this week. We’ll see how it shapes out next week, but
I’m not worried about it.
What did you think about last night? Was it similar to your first game as a rookie, or the
Super Bowl?
To tell you the truth I don’t really think about the game the night before. I take every moment as
right then, so last night was last night, I woke up this morning and ate breakfast, took it just one
step at a time I didn’t think about the game until I stepped out there.
QB Ben Roethlisberger
Talk about Rashard [Mendenhall]’s return.
“Our savior is back. No, we’ve been teasing him all week. It was great to see him out there and
he did a great job.”
Were you setting up for the field goal at the end? Did you get a little conservative there?
“We knew we needed that. We got down into field goal range and I was still ready to go if we
wanted to. But we kind of were just dominating a little bit up front. We were getting three, four
yards at a pop and I was mixing up the snap count on them there so they couldn’t anticipate it. I
think that’s probably the smart way to go, I guess.”
On that drive, you were bent over a little bit. Did you get hurt?
“Yeah, I just got hit in the wrong spot, if you know what I mean.”
You made some mistakes today with some penalties and a few dropped balls. But did it
feel like you kind of had it figured out? Was it more comfortable playing that defense that
you’ve seen previously?
“They are a great defense. They get after it. I don’t think we had any sacks today and that’s such
a credit to our guys. We felt like we left some things out there, obviously. But when you play a
great team like that, you just want to get the win. Of course, you’d want to win 50-0, but when you
are playing a team like that, it’s probably not going to happen. So we’ll evaluate it. We know we
need to get better in certain areas, but a win’s a win.”
You were never really under siege. You had to move around a little bit, but you had some
passing lanes.
“They did a great job against a great pass rush. They rotate nine guys and they’re fresh and our
guys are tired. But they never gave up. I’m just so proud of that group, as always.”
Can you talk about the difference between 2-2 and 1-3 and going on the road after a short
week?
“Obviously, every game is a must win for us. It is even when we are in training camp. We want to
win every game. It’s a must-win. We just need to play like the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
After a pretty jagged first half, the second half kind of flew by. When you got the ball after
their scoring drive, was that a quick wake-up call where you knew you had to get it done
there?
“We got into the fourth quarter and everything just kind of flew by in the second half. They took a
lot of time to go down and score. We figured it’s now or never. We went 80 [yards] and then
ended up going longer. So, just like I said, I’m proud of the guys to fight all the way to the end.”
On the third down play to Antonio [Brown] over the middle, was he your first guy to go to?
“Yeah, we ran that game earlier in the game. And I ended up hitting Heath [Miller] out of the
backfield because they got a little bit of pressure and I didn’t have time. I saw Antonio was open
in the first quarter when we ran it. So [when] we came back to it, I thought ‘same coverage, same
route, maybe I can get him.’ The offensive line did a good job of pushing the defense around me.
I stepped up and A.B. just made a play.”
If you don’t get that, do you punt from there?
“I have no idea. What did Mike say?”
Willie Colon is making the change moving from tackle to guard. He had two or three
holding penalties on him today. What do you say to him?
“Absolutely nothing. Willie is a fighter. He’s a tough son of a gun. He’s in there pancaking people.
I mean, he’s putting guys on their backs. Unfortunately, he’s getting calls. You look at it, and
without getting fined for saying something about the officiating, I think Willie’s just flat-out
pancaking people. He’s putting them on their backs and defensive lineman are kind of throwing
their hands up because there is nothing else they can do. I just stay positive with him. And he
needs to stay positive because he’s doing a great job.”
After seeing what Rashard [Mendenhall] did today, was it the right call to wait so long to
get him back in there?
“Yeah, he looked great. I don’t know if he feels good, but I’m sure he does. He didn’t really take
too many big shots and made some big plays. We just hope that he made it out of this game
without any more injury.”
Mike [Wallace] seemed to have a tough day. Was it just one of those days?
“Yeah, there were some tight ones. But those DBs are good. They are all over you and there are
some really small windows. I have to put some of them in better spots for him to make the play.
But, you know what, it’s a frustrating day when you get a great defense because you want to do
so much and there are so many plays you feel that you’ve left out there. That’s what I just told
him. We can be frustrated right now, but let’s move on. And he’ll move on. He’ll be fine. He’s
frustrated because he holds himself to a high expectation, high standards. And that’s good. You
want that.”
Talk about the shot in the arm that getting an game-winning drive is.
“I pride myself, and we pride ourselves on offense, if we get the ball, whether we are up, down or
it’s tied – whatever it is – we want to go down and win the game. I want the ball in my hands. We
had a couple of key third downs that we converted, which were huge. Those were big. Those are
momentum things that I always have confidence in myself that we can do it. I always have
confidence in myself and the guys that we can do it. But sometimes younger guys, unless you’ve
been here to do it, you are not really sure if it gets done as much as we talk about it. It’s good to
go down. That was everybody on that drive.”
The sequence where you had the option on one on of your scrambles. How long as that
been in your arsenal?
“About two seconds, because that kind of happened right there. I don’t know what I was thinking.
I think I saw in the program that I needed 44 yards for 1,000, so I started to crazy. No, it was just
kind of silly on my part.”
What were you thinking on the sequence where Brown lost his show and Cotchery tripped.
It was kind of crazy on that sequence.
“On the first one, I got A.B. the ball and I thought he could have stayed to the outside and could
have scored because he’s got the speed and the quickness. But he’s a great cutback guy. I think
the guy made a good play because even when he cut back, I thought he was going to score. It
was the next play or a couple of plays later where Jerricho was coming across – it’s hard for a
receive with their back to the defense when he’s coming across the field because I can see that
there is really no one around him because he cleared the last linebacker. I can see that, he can’t.
When you are on the goal line, you have to expect – and we preach this all the time – that the
second you catch it, you are going to get hit, because it is so tight down there. So when I threw it,
you could see him make sure he had the catch and brace [for contact]. That’s my assumption,
that he was kind of waiting for the hit and he just got caught up. It’s unfortunate because we could
have had a touchdown there. And I could have hit Heath [Miller] later. That’s 14 points we left off
the board.”
What’s the biggest challenge with a short week like this?
“Rest and health, seeing who’s healthy, [and] who’s banged up. You only have a couple of days
to get ready to go. And going on the road is always tough.”
How much does it change what you are able to do?
“Well it depends on who’s banged up. We’ll get to work on Tuesday and see where we go from
there.”
Re: You hit Rashard [Mendenhall] twice and one was ruled a running play:
“Yeah, I’m going to protest that [smiles]. He did a great job. We had one guy in the pattern run the
wrong route. We hit that check-down and I made a forward pass and Rashard made the rest of
that happen. We’re in Pittsburgh, so we call it a run.”
Do you have any jitters about how he wakes up tomorrow?
“No. He’s an animal. He’ll be fine. I assume; I don’t think he had any injuries.”
LB Jason Worilds
Re: Having to fill in when LB LaMarr Woodley got hurt:
It’s a testament to the linebacking crew. We pride ourselves on being able to step in when
somebody goes down.
Re: Losing S Troy Polamalu:
I think him being in the game is definitely something for the offense to think about. Fortunately,
we were still able to out there and execute and I think we did that.
What went wrong on the Eagles’ long scoring drive in the fourth quarter?
Penalties. We had a lot of penalties. When you play against good teams, you can’t give away free
yards. That’s what we did.
G Willie Colon
What went right on the last drive?
Like anything, it takes time to figure the defense out. We started a little choppy. Holding penalties
don’t help at all and I damn sure had enough of them. I have to cut that out and I have to get
better at not holding. I take all ownership. I’m hurting the team in that regard. One thing I give us
credit for is we stood up, we fought, we were able to run the ball successfully and that’s what we
aim to get better at.
Re: The offense picking up the defense after the Eagles scored late in the fourth quarter:
That’s what teams do. I remember a couple of years ago we were like them. We couldn’t score
points. We couldn’t help that defense out and they were number one in the league. It’s not about
one side helping each other. It’s about being a brother and being a team. When things get heavy,
we have to pick each other up and we did that today.
LB Lawrence Timmons
Did you have to adjust defensive assignments throughout the game?
No. The defensive line did a good job keeping them contained. My main objectives were the
running backs and tight ends and that’s what I had the whole game. The defensive line did a
good job this game.
Re: The defense’s performance:
Our defense stood up today. We really needed this win. A good team is always defined by what
they do after losses. Mike Tomlin did a good job of preparing us the whole week.
Re: Disrupting the Eagles offense and causing turnovers:
Like I said, the edge we were playing with, everybody was running to the ball and having fun out
there. That’s what it’s all about. We just want to have fun out there and you can see that. It was a
fun experience, especially in a big win like that in front of our home fans.
Eagles Quotes
Head Coach Andy Reid: There were really just two injuries. Both guys came back in. It was
Bryce Brown with a shoulder strain and Mychal Kendricks had an ankle sprain. Both of them
again returned and were fine. The turnovers early hurt us. You can’t do that in a good place in a
stadium on the road against a good football team. You just can’t do it. We put ourselves in a
position to win the game. We need to make sure we get off the field on that last drive. My hat’s off
to them. They did a nice job with the last drive. I saw some good things. I know that’s hard to see
right now. There were some good things we can take out of this. There are some things we can
work on and get ourselves back.
What happened on the play where you called your second timeout?
I can’t remember.
Why is quarterback Michael Vick still fumbling the ball after there was so much emphasis
placed on it?
It’s hard to say. He got knocked out. I’ll be the first one to tell you that. We fixed it the second half.
The first half is where we have to take care of the football.
Re: Pressuring the quarterback on defense:
We had pressure. We had chances to get our hands on him [Ben Roethlisberger]. He’s a big,
strong guy. You have to get him down once you get your hands on him. We knew that was an
issue. That’s been an issue with every team that’s played him. We just need to do a little better of
a job.
Were you okay with the pressure?
For the most part, he [Ben Roethlisberger] had pressure. He had to move in the pocket and make
his throws where he extended plays. He’s very good at that.
Re: Roethlisberger buying time on the Steelers third and 12-play on the last drive:
He did. We’re two man there and he made the right route call against the right coverage in that
case.
Was it zone defense on that play?
No. It was two man.
Re: Michael Vick turning the ball over:
He didn’t want to come in and fumble the ball. That’s not what he did. He tried to make plays and
they hit the ball and knocked it out of his hands.
How frustrating was it to not have timeouts at your disposal as the game was winding
down?
I had the one left and I used it on the last drive. I needed the other ones. I needed to use the
other ones at the time. The other one was on third and short. It was something they showed us. It
wasn’t any call that we made. It was the call of the player.
Re: Receiving evidence that LeSean McCoy got a first down:
Yes. I was standing right there and it looked like he got it.
Re: Your decision to go for it on fourth down:
I wanted to win the game. You’re in a tough place to win football games. Their home record here
is unbelievable. We had ball in our hands and I wanted to take care of it and score. That’s what
we did.
Re: The Eagles offense going down to get ahead again:
It was a great effort. Both sides of the ball played hard. It’s a matter of you have to get off the field
at the end. It was a nice drive by the offense on that last drive.
Re: The defense playing most of the second half and being worn down on the last drive:
We rotated enough guys where I didn’t think that was an issue. When you’re that close you have
to get him [Ben Roethlisberger] down. He’s good at it. I don’t know what else to say. He’s very
good at that.
Re: The Steelers being able to run late in the game:
They had a pretty good running back back. That helped the cause. He played pretty well. They
got us.
Michael Vick
About the fumbles-why are they still happening?
I wish I could tell you, but I don’t have any explanation.
Are you in danger of talking too much about the fumbles?
We’re taking all the positives away from this game. We fought hard, I thought the team played
great throughout. It was a tale of two halves and that’s pretty much the story.
What happens during the fourth quarter with all the go-ahead drives? Are you thinking in a
different way?
I’m just trying to win. At the end of the day, I just want to win football games. Whatever it takes.
However many downs, whether its four downs or three, I’m just trying to win. Find a way to get
our team in a position where we could win the football game.
You guys have talked about how what the Steelers do is a lot like what Arizona does, do
you feel like you guys could have been more prepared?
I think we did a great job. You play against teams who have great schemes but sometimes
they’re going to get you. In the game of football you can’t be perfect on every play. You’re not
going to do everything right. If that was the case, I’d be sitting here with a different set of
emotions.
I’m sure you’ve talked about the fumbles-last week was perfect. What happened?
I mean it’s football. Things happen. I wish I could take back the fumble on the goal line, but I
can’t. Ultimately we put ourselves in a position to win this game, but we didn’t win. That’s how it
goes in the NFL. You wish you could have some things back, and there are plenty of things I wish
I could have back through the course of this season, but you can’t get them.
Will every team be stripping the ball every time?
I will do a better job of protecting the football. The fumble on the goal line, the guy just put his
helmet on a good spot, he put his helmet right on the ball. I tried to protect it, but it came out, and
I can’t do anything about it.
What are your emotions right now? Are you frustrated?
Right now, I’m not really frustrated; I’m more hurt than anything that we didn’t pull it out. I’m proud
of my teammates and they battled on both sides of the ball. There are a lot of positives that you
can take away from this. There are a lot of small things that we have to clean up and that we
have to get corrected. We can’t let that happen week in and week out the turnovers, but the good
thing is that we fought.
The way you are winning these games, coming from behind, did you think that was a
sustainable way to go through the year?
We need to score more points. We need to help our defense out. And we try to as best as we
can. Pittsburgh is a good football team. Their record might not have shown that going into this
day but they are a good team, and we played a good game. There was a two-point difference in
the game. That’s what happens.
How did you think the no-huddles and quick-drops and shorter runs help get the offense
on form?
I think it helped get us into a rhythm. Doing the things that we know, dunking the ball off, dictating
what we wanted the defense to play and it was part of the reason we brought the ball downfield.
The offensive line did a great job protecting it and converting on some fourth downs and we have
to give them a lot of credit. Lot of things to learn from, lot of positives in this game, and a lot of
things to clean up.
Would you like to do more of it?
It all depends. It all depends on how we scheme, what the defense dictates going into that week.
This one is going to burn for a minute.
To a certain extent, do you think the turnovers are byproducts of the way you play?
Running the ball maybe more than other quarterbacks?
No, that’s been my style, and I never had a problem with fumbling before. It was one of those
things. Everything happens for a reason and if it was meant to be, I wouldn’t have fumbled the
ball at the goal line. But I have no explanation for it.
Jeremy Maclin
Re: Assessing the offense
We were a little flat offensively. We had opportunities and we didn’t convert them. What you
want to do in this league is to be in position to win at the end, and we were. They just made
plays. I think the defense played well today. We could have helped them a little bit more in the
first half.
How does the team keep it together after a series of fumbles?
You know that you’ll have other opportunities. You never want to give up. Unfortunately it
happened, and you just have to bounce back. I do think that the first half was a big reason that
the outcome was the way it was. We went to halftime and made adjustments.
Re: Defensive giving up a touchdown after a 17-play touchdown drive
This is a team effort. There’s no pointing fingers. The defense has held up all year. They’ve
played well all year. We just came up a little short.
How much did the no-huddle help?
It was good. Obviously they’re in a 3-4 and they like to be disruptive. We found a way to counter
that. That’s why the big drive happened there at the end. We converted two fourth-down
conversions where Shady put his nose in there and got the first down. We answered the call but
we have to come out hot in the first half.
Trent Cole
Re: Defensive performance on the final drive:
There’s not much you can do. We just have to go out there and fight. They ended up with a field
goal. It’s not like we didn’t go out there and fight until the end. We just didn’t execute when we
needed to execute. You can’t have mistakes and turnovers and win games. You have to go out
there and be mistake-free. That’s what great teams do.
Re: Not stopping the Steelers on third-and-twelve in their own territory:
We have to get off on third downs. We can’t have big plays. They had some big plays and they
hurt us. As a defense we just can’t have it.
Were you tired on the final drive?
No, we weren’t tired. That’s the way game goes. They made a big play and there’s nothing you
can really say about it.
Re: Inability to sack Ben Roethlisberger:
We try to get to him as best we could. He gets the ball fast, takes two steps and throws the ball
fast.
Cullen Jenkins
Re: Importance of finishing on final drives:
It’s not just the final drive. It shouldn’t have even been that close. We need to stop shooting
ourselves in the foot when we have opportunities. We’re not taking advantage of our
opportunities. We’re not playing complete games. We’re just waiting to the end and trying to pull
it out. We’re not putting ourselves in the best situation. We have to take advantage of every
opportunity that we have throughout the whole game.
Is winning close games a sustainable way to succeed?
There are going to be close games. You’re always going to have close games. When you get in
those close games, you have to pull them out. You want to be able to win them. Obviously it’s
not the NFL, you’re not going to win every game. When you have opportunities like that you can’t
let them slip away. This was an opportunity that we let go. We should have won that game.
They pulled out the plays at the end this week and we weren’t able to stop them.
Kurt Coleman
Is it frustrating that you couldn’t close out a close game at the end?
That’s the name of the game. We wanted to be in that position. We were ready for that. We
were excited to go out and take the field and win the game for our club. We just didn’t get it done
today. I think it’s going to make us stronger.
Is it deflating when you get a stop and then the offense turns the ball over?
No. We relish the opportunity to get on the field and make plays. It gives us more stats. We
enjoy it. That’s been the marquis of this defense this year. We love taking the field, getting after
the QB and getting after their guys.
Why did you throw Antonio Brown’s shoe to the sideline?
I didn’t want it. I’m not going to hold on to it and hand it to him. He’s going to have to go get it.
LeSean McCoy
Re: 17-play touchdown drive:
We knew we needed to convert. We had to drive and score to give us an opportunity to win the
game. That’s all that was. We were all on the same page in terms of blocking, running the ball,
and converting. Everything that we needed to do to score, we did that.
Was it frustrating to turn the ball over at the goal line?
That’s always frustrating. That contributed to the loss. You need to at least score three. If we
get seven it’s a different ballgame. We just made turnovers. We have to stop it.
What did that turnover do to your momentum?
I want to be humble, but we felt like we could drive on them. At the beginning of the game, the
calls were making, the runs, the passes. We were driving, driving. But that kind of changed the
game a little bit.