What are your thoughts? You dominated during parts but couldn't really put them away.
Yeah, we just gave up some opportunities out there. We didn't make some plays that were there. You've got to play a full game. I don't think we finished the way, obviously, that we wanted to. We didn't move the ball effectively enough throughout the game. And like you said, we had spurts where we did some good things. We've just got to be more consistent.
What was your angle on the kick? And did you think it was good at the start, and maybe how deflating was it when you saw it sail left?
Yeah, I couldn't really see the angle on it when it came off his foot. I have a lot of faith in Randy (Bullock) and know that he's going to be able to make the next one, so this doesn't change my belief in him or our team's belief in him. He's made a lot of kicks for us in the past. He's going to continue to do that.
Was there any desperation any point in that drive? Or did you guys feel like you were doing exactly what you wanted to do?
No, I don't think there was any desperation at all. I felt great. I felt like we had some opportunities there. We were steady gaining some yards and had some opportunities to complete a pass there to Kyle (Philips), one he got held on and the other we were able to hit. I felt in control and felt like they were up there trying to ease up a little bit where we were able to have answers and gain yards on those situations, and unfortunately we just didn't finish them.
Frustrating not be able to build on the lead when you're up 13-nothing?
Yeah, no doubt. Coming into the half, we felt like we left some meat on the bone and didn't score once we were in the red zone and expected to come out and be able to score more points than we did in the second half. Regardless of the opponent, that's just our mentality – that we should be able to score more points than we did in the second half. So, we've got to get a lot of things cleaned up and looking forward to another opportunity next week.
Top targets Kyle (Philips) and Treylon (Burks) both getting the majority of the target share, what was going right in that sense of the game where you felt comfortable going to Kyle so often especially late when you guys kind of had your backs against the wall?
Kyle (Philips)'s made a bunch of plays for me this training camp. We built up that relationship and he's shown that he can win consistently in practice, so that translates over to the game. He gets put into that situation, man-to-man coverage, he wins in practice, so I expect him to win in a game situation. We come in, we had some plays that we wanted to try to get him down the field on and he was able to make some of those plays for us. So, some more opportunity where I thought we had some shots down the field, we weren't able to connect. We just look forward to continue to try to take advantage of those situations.
Was (Dontrell) Hilliard as much a factor in the passing game as you expected coming into the season he can be?
Yeah, we built up a lot of confidence in Dontrell (Hilliard) over last season when he joined us and we had the whole spring so we were able to move around a little bit. He showed up big for us today, one down or two down in the red zone. But he does a good job for us on third downs, and he has some natural feel and ability to be able to get himself open.
Was there anything in particular you guys gameplanned for this week that you weren't able to do in the game? Or was it just a matter of inconsistency?
No, I think we had a good gameplan coming in. I felt really confident about it. I feel like we had opportunities for some of the stuff that we were trying to hit, just inconsistent and didn't take advantage of some of those opportunities when they arose. You don't get (inaudible) in this league if you don't take advantage of the plays whenever you get the opportunity, you're going to come up short a lot of the time.
What went into using that final timeout when you guys did? It seems like maybe you could have used it a couple of seconds later?
We were just trying to get the ball on the right hash there. The timeout wasn't really a factor. Just trying to be able to move with the ball with the right hash, we were able to clock it, so it ended up being the same type of situation.
Did you think about holding the timeout to try and make the kick a little bit closer? Was that a discussion that went on at all? Or was the priority the hash mark there?
You have to ask Vrabes (Mike Vrabel) about that. That's the information I got, so that's what we went with.
Might it have helped if you have gotten some play in preseason or that you felt that made no difference or not?
I feel like it made absolutely no difference. I felt really confident going out there today. And from the start of the game, I felt like I was seeing things clearly and putting the ball where I wanted to. So, I don't think that was a factor.
This was one of the more balanced pass attacks that I've seen from you guys. Is it different when you don't have that dominant, top number one? As opposed to now where you have a group of solid pass catchers?
Yeah, we've got a good group of guys. I think over the course of training camp we kind of built that trust across the room and it's going to take all those guys making plays. It's going to be some games where one guy gets a few more targets than the other guys, but over the course of this season that's going to shift and ebb and flow depending on the game. So, we're going to need all those guys in that room to come out big for us at different times this year.
It's a long season, but as much time as you spend thinking about this game, how terrible does 0-1 feel?
Losing sucks no matter when it happens. I never want to start off the season on the wrong foot, especially at home in front of your own fans. You've got to turn the page quickly though. It's a long season. It's just one game and we've got to keep that mentality to be able to take a real look at what happened, get it fixed quickly and turn the page and get ready to go for next week.
