Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis
Opening Statement:
"It's disappointing to get back into the football game and then the drive down the field there. Who knows, they get the phantom call there at the end, it's kind of ridiculous. Anyway, we played well enough early. Penalties still hurt us early in the football game. It hurt us at times defensively and offensively. We get the call on special teams. We've got to clean it up. It's just hurting us and it's hard. It's hard to sometimes overcome, particularly on offense when you've got second and those long times and third down and long, it makes it a harder game. We've got to do a better job. Defensively, we let a couple of runs get out, which got that drive there in the third quarter and then we kind of got it figured out and got back in our gaps and so forth and played better and were able to slow the run down and get the ball back for the offense there when we needed it. We've got to just regroup and we've got to get focused and we've got to go win the football game next week. "
On if it was tough to stop the Cardinals on their last drive because of a banged up secondary:
"That's excuses. We've got to stop them. We've got to figure it out and execute the coverages and get them stopped. They hit one coverage against leverage which is going to be difficult on that play. We've got to keep working. We've got to get sacks and rush and all of those things have got to go on one minute drives."
On his thoughts on what he called the phantom call:
"I trust what our player did and said. He's alerting a run and not anything to do with what they're saying. I don't see how they make that call at that point in the game like that. I trust our guy to be honest with me."
On whether he received any explanation from the officials on that call:
"If they did give me an explanation, it doesn't matter now."
On whether it was challenging to try to get the game tying field goal, but also not leave the Cardinals much time for a drive:
"Andy (Dalton) is going to get us in the play that he feels best versus the defense and he took the one-on-one shot to AJ (Green) and we just didn't get our feet in. We've got to get the ball in where we can make an uncontested catch and I guess AJ stepped on the pylon."
On how this raucous crowd stacks up to others:
"It's okay. I didn't notice it. We've been in places that have been louder."
On if the offense went away from going to Tyler Eifert (three targets, two touchdowns) because of what the defense brought:
"You don't go away. Pass-offense is designed based on coverage and so forth, so the quarterback has got to, as he's done all year, throw the football based on the coverage and his progression and read."
On if he felt coming into this game that Giovani Bernard would be a match-up problem since he was used a lot tonight:
"If they continued to do some of the things that they had done and they started out the game a little different and then he balled back into them and then Gio had some big plays."
On if the touchdown throw to J.J. Nelson was enough to get the Cardinals rejuvenated and in control:
"They had the one play was three plays, three or four plays in the drive. I think the next one was six plays, so we've just got to a better job. You can't let the ball go down the field like that, no doubt."
Bengals Quarterback Andy Dalton
On how challenging Cincinnati's game-tying field goal drive was:
"Shoot, we had chances on that drive, even on the last play I threw to A.J. (Green). I left it a little short and that would have won the game for us. It's tough. We left too much time. They did a good job of completing some big passes down the field and got it into field goal range. It's tough for it to end this way."
On the loss being even tougher because of the way Cincinnati fought back:
"I think the one thing you can take from this is that there's no quit. We fought until the very end and that's good to see. We've got to keep that mentality. We've got to keep doing that. So, there is some positive you can take from it."
On the team not being able to drive down the field early in the game:
"There's going to be ups and downs in games. That's the nature of pro football. For us, we've got to find better ways to not have as many downs as we've had. At the end of the day, you play four quarters for a reason, and we fell just a little short in this one."
On how hard it was to deal with Arizona's defensive pressure:
"Their rushers did a good job. They did a good job in their pressure packages. I didn't have as much time as I normally have. They did a good job and they had a good plan. We've got to find a way to stop them. We've got to be a little bit more stout and we'll look at the tape and we'll see where we can go and what we need to correct."
On whether Arizona's defense had one man too many:
"There were times where they had more and there were other times where we just didn't get a block. Whatever it was, we've got to find a way to correct it and we'll do that after watching the film."
On whether he thought A.J. Green caught a touchdown pass:
"On that last play? I didn't know. I left it short, it got bobbled around and I don't know what the rule is when he's not the first one to touch it and when he stepped it out of bounds and all that kind of stuff."
On whether he thinks Cincinnati left too much time on the clock on the pass attempt to Green:
"Yeah, you can think of it that way, or you're trying to win the game. There are two ways of thinking of it. Yeah, you don't want to leave time on the clock, but you also want to try and win and we had a chance. It was close."
On Green's matchup on that play:
"Yeah, we had the look that we wanted and we went for it. I could have thrown a better ball and it could've helped us win the game."
On the use and play of Giovani Bernard in tonight's game:
"There are different times where you can get him in space and get him with the ball in his hands. He's so good when he's matched up on linebackers in different routes and different things. I wouldn't have said coming into this game that he's going to have as many catches as he did for as many yards as he did, but sometimes it is that way. You see how teams are playing you and you adjust. Gio played really well today."
On whether the screen play at the end of the first half was a called play:
"It was. Hue (Jackson) made an unbelievable call at that point and they had a blitz dialed up. It was the perfect play in what they called. That was big on Hue's part to get that one going. We executed it really well and gave it a chance to go down there and score."
Bengals Players
Bengals LB Vincent Rey
On the last penalty:
"Yeah, I didn't see anybody on our defense flinch to draw them off and I guess that was the call. I didn't see anybody do it."
On the penalty being called for simulating signals:
"I didn't know that was a 15-yard penalty. That is just a big play. We thought it was going to overtime. Credit to their offense for driving down the field on us but we have to do a better job, myself included."
On it being tough to stop Larry Fitzgerald when the secondary is banged up:
"They had a couple big deep shots on us, 14 (J.J. Nelson), 12 (John Brown) and 11 (Larry Fitzgerald) making catches on us. We were in it until the end, the offense brought us back from down two touchdowns. It is a heartbreaker."
On cleaning up the penalties:
"We have to clean that up because we played a little undisciplined with the penalties and we were still in it, right until the very end. We would have been in much better shape without those. Those are things we can control, so hope's not all gone at all. We need to play more disciplined."
Bengals CB Dre Kirkpatrick
On noticing any difference in the Cardinals offense coming out of halftime:
"To me, I feel like they didn't really do anything different. I feel like they stayed with the same game plan and we didn't finish. It was all about everything we did today, nothing about what they did. It was all about what we did and we didn't finish."
On how frustrating the Cardinals last drive was:
"We didn't finish. That is pretty much the bottom line and the headline, we didn't finish. We have to do a better job of finishing games. We are going to learn. I feel like there was a lot of stuff out there that we can take from, different situations we can learn from and I feel like we are going to continue to do good. It is a bump in the road but I feel like we are going to overcome it."
On having a lot of injuries:
"At the end of the day, that really doesn't matter because it is all about the next man. The next man has to know the same details as the starter. We don't like to make excuses about substitutions and things like that. Everybody has to continue to stay 100 percent focused and dialed in."
On them going to Fitzgerald at the end of the game:
"He finished strong for them. Like I said, I feel like we still left a lot of plays out there. I feel like there were things we could've done to challenge down the line."
Bengals DT Domata Peko
On if he was given the explanation on the final penalty:
"No, they had huddled up way away from the play and they called it. We tried to talk to the ref and he was like 'shut up, shut up'."
On what his reaction was when he heard what the call was:
"I was like what the f---, I thought the call was on them, but we shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place. I thought that they had way too many big plays today and that is why they won the game. We didn't make the big plays. In the beginning of the game, we had a lot of three and outs, blah blah blah, you know stuff like that. We had a little bit of a lead and we have to capitalize on stuff like that. Big shout out to my teammates for the fourth quarter effort. We still stuck in there and tried to win, tried to fight. Even on that fumble play, I thought that I recovered that fumble. It was under that o-lineman's leg and in the rule book I thought you had to have possession of the ball not just have it on your leg. I ripped it out of there and that is another play that could've gone our way because we had just scored and we were down by seven. That could've put momentum our way. It just wasn't enough today and we have to get back to work."
On if he was saying anything on the last play that was penalized:
"Carson (Palmer) was under center and they were kind of huddled up trying to quick count us or whatever and we were just on the line there and they jumped. They were on the ball pretty quick and I am a big communicator on our defensive line about runs, passes, trying to communicate. I was just saying "get set, get set" because they were on the ball quick and I guess when I said "get set" they thought I was saying hike or something. I didn't say hike. It shouldn't have come down to that play. They were already in field goal range and we were just trying to make a play to win, they jump offside and I thought that would knock them out of field goal range."
On being surprised when the penalty was called:
"I don't think I have ever seen that call made ever since I have been in the NFL. It is just one of those days. I don't know. We had way too many penalties today. I think that was the name of the game, we were fighting the refs and fighting the Cardinals."
Bengals S Reggie Nelson
On the performance of the secondary:
"Once we start fast, we have to continue to play fast and not give up big plays. We have been doing a great job of that all year, but today we gave up some big plays and that hurts the defense. We have to do a better job next week as a secondary and not give up deep balls."
On whether he felt they had Carson Palmer rattled early in the game:
"Not at all. I have played here with Carson and it is hard to rattle him, but he made some great plays and they are the number one offense for a reason."
On the last drive:
"He (Paul Guenther) put us in great position to make some plays, we just have to execute the defense. He put us in a great position to take it into overtime. We just have to execute the call that he gives us."
On if he thought they gave Carson Palmer too much time:
"They didn't have any timeouts, so all we had to do is just make the stops. Like I said, Paul put us in a position to make great plays, we just have to execute the defense."
On the J.J. Nelson touchdown catch to start the second half:
"Like I said, we can't give up deep balls period. They made a good play. I mean they are the number one offense. They are going to make plays and we are going to make plays."
On the emotional swing to end the game:
"Once we start fast, we have to finish fast. We have to finish the game, that's just about it. That is what we get preached upon. We have got to learn how to finish."
Bengals RB Giovani Bernard
On the comeback:
"We just kept fighting. That is what we do. As a football player, you keep fighting until the clock hits zero."
On what can be taken away from this game:
"We made mistakes. It shouldn't have been that close or we shouldn't have lost. Stuff happens and now we have to bounce back."
On the team's ability to bounce back:
"Yeah but we shouldn't be setting ourselves up like that. There was a couple of drives where we should have kept them going, but penalties and little things like that we need to work on. They have been hurting us the past couple of weeks. We have got some work to do."
On whether he thought he could score on his catch on the last drive of the game:
"That is the mindset you are supposed to have as a player. Whenever you get the ball just make the best out of it."
On the running game:
"I mean we are 8-2 right now. That is not a bad record to have. The last couple of week's things just haven't gone our way. There are times where you will not be able to run the ball."
Bengals OL Andrew Whitworth:
On the comeback:
"That is a heck of an effort. Their defense has been tough all year especially in their place. They can pass rush and cover so we knew this was going to be a challenge. We got down so to be able to fight back showed a lot of determination and grit. It was a great experience for us to learn from."
On the pressure they were facing:
"They brought a lot of pressure, it was a lot of people. I felt like I was pass-blocking and watching people just whizzing by my ears. They were bringing heat and that was their plan. Play aggressive and try to get the ball out of his hands and get him out of the pocket to see if we could ad-lib plays."
On what he saw on tape:
"They have been a very aggressive defense all year. They kind of just do a little bit of everything and that is kind of their style. They are going to bring a lot of heat, a lot of pressure and hope that they have a good enough secondary to cover for it."
On the running game:
"They played it well, but they do a great job against that. I think that we got in some situations there in the second half where we just had to abandon it. We were just running to keep them honest more than really trying to run the football."
On the takeaways from tonight's game:
"If you look at the schedule, this was the game all year. Coming to this place, they are a great football team and they have shown it the last couple of years, on the road at night and a short week. This was going to be an amazing challenge to come here and win. Bottom line, you can say what you want, this team is not a slouch football team. They have won a lot of football games. This was going to be the challenge all year with the schedule. To make it the kind of game we made it even after falling down, I think you take a lot from this game. It is a great learning experience, great job of staying in the game and fighting our way back against the best thing they do, pass rush and cover. To get into that kind of style and drive all the way down the field twice, it shows the grit we have. Then all we have to do is go back and eliminate some penalties, make some stops and we have a chance to win the game."
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Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians
Opening statement:
"That's why they schedule these things for 60 minutes and it was a heck of a ball game against a heck of a team and a well-coached team. I am very proud of our guys. Things didn't always go our way, but we managed to keep fighting and making some key plays down the stretch. There was never a doubt that we wouldn't go two minutes at the end because I trust our guys and I trust our quarterbacks and receivers to make plays and we made the plays necessary to win the game."
On the Bengals' late game penalty:
"I was concerned that they would blow it, but it was obviously what they called; one of those jump at you deals. I still would have rather seen him sit in there."
On what was said inside the locker room at halftime:
"We were kind of out of sync in the first half and tried to force a few things. We were running it OK, but the passing game was not there. We settled down and the big thing was the defense got off the field and we got the ball to get some momentum going. We had a couple of plays that we liked and obviously the big play to J.J. (Nelson) was the catalyst."
On the play of defensive backs after Patrick Peterson left with injury:
"I thought Justin Bethel stepped up big time. Jerruad (Powers) was out there the whole game. The whole secondary played extremely well tonight."
On J.J. Nelson's game:
"He was huge. He is the next man up. J.J. had a great camp and a great preseason and he got hurt. I trust our seven of our guys, even Jaxon Shipley if we had to play with him I would trust him to be out there so we have quality depth at the receiver position."
On if J.J. Nelson originally had a big part of the game plan:
"He had a great week of practice and had a huge part of the game plan. Smoke (John Brown) was there and he made his plays, but Larry (Fitzgerald) and J.J. were a huge part of the plan."
On rookies having more of a role in the offense:
"They should be ready to roll by Thanksgiving and count on them by Thanksgiving. I like where all of our young guys are especially some of the guys we aren't even dressing. Xavier Williams got out there tonight and played good in his little bit of a role when Frostee Rucker went down. Your young guys have to step in now and give you depth."
On Carson Palmer bouncing back from interceptions:
"He was out of sync in the first half and tried to force one down the middle that wasn't even there and same thing to Larry and make a big play. I think he wanted to get after these guys a little too much early and then he settled down and got into rhythm."
On if Carson Palmer's interception was intended for J.J. Nelson:
"He got jammed going down the middle and the ball shouldn't of even been there."
On injured players:
"Patrick (Peterson) has an ankle and Frostee (Rucker) has an ankle so we will wait and see what the severity of those are."
On how close Michael Floyd was to playing:
"He probably could have played in the red zone, but he couldn't open up and run."
On Chandler Catanzaro's game-winning field goal:
"Yeah that was really nice for him he has been kicking it very well. I thought Drew (Butler) punted the crap out of the ball. That was a big punt way down there. All three of the specialists did a good job tonight."
On adjustments made to get pressure on Andy Dalton:
"We just started going after him more. We were doing too much four-man rush early. We felt we had a mismatch on the (running) back and he was going to struggle to block those linebackers."
On the speed of his wide receivers:
"I like speed. I like speed that comes in any kind of package. It is nice when it is six-foot-four and 220 pounds. If it's a buck fifty-eight and it's still fast, you don't have to be big to catch it over your shoulder. I have always liked fast little guys that are quick and can take the top off the coverage. Those little guys are exciting."
On how dangerous offense is with six quality wide receivers:
"It's hard to dress all six of them. Once Michael (Floyd) gets healthy somebody is going to have to sit back down or we will have to short another position. It's going to be hard to keep all of them out there."
On Mike Iupati's play:
"It was déjà vu, he hit the guy and the same thing happened. He wanted to go back in and finish so it was really good news."
Cardinals QB Carson Palmer
On what the game meant to him:
"Big win against a team that's pretty much undefeated with one loss and playing great football. For us to come out and play the way we did and win it in that fashion was huge. It was just a great team win."
On if the game meant more coming out:
"No. It meant the same. It was a big game. Obviously, when you play somewhere else, it adds extra to it. When you have a chance to win it at the end of the game, that's huge. I'm glad we got out with a win."
On if he felt he was pressing in the first half:
"Yeah, I just made some bad plays, but I think that's the sign of a really good team win. When one guy is struggling or one side of the ball is struggling, you pick up the slack for the guys around you. We picked it up in the second half."
On what he was thinking during the final drive:
"Go down and get a field goal. We're not the type to run it out and play for overtime. That comes from the head coach. He's got that go for it type of mentality. Whether it's third down, red zone or end of the game, you got to be smart. He trusted me to be smart at the end and get us somewhere near field goal range, and we did a great job of doing that. The pockets were very soft and great. Larry (Fitzgerald) made two phenomenal plays and does what Larry does. For Cat (Chandler Catanzaro) to come in and hit that, and the way we punted, it was phenomenal. Special teams and the kickers did a great job. We have a lot of trust and faith in Cat because he hits those."
On what it meant to see J.J. Nelson step up without Michael Floyd:
"I think everybody's expecting that out of J.J. He is young and he is green as far as playing in big-time games, coming from a smaller school. But I think everybody expected him to make the plays that he did and I'm just glad to see him do it. He's starting to realize that he's not just a player. He's a big-time player. To come in this atmosphere with Mike (Floyd) down and your number is called a number of times, I'm just really happy to see him make the plays he did."
On how much time he had to get in sync with J.J. Nelson:
"Not much. We were off on a couple, so really not much. I spend so much time with Larry and Mike, and I'm also trying to cut back at this time of the year. I'm not trying to throw a hundred balls at practice. There's a fine line of getting in that rhythm and timing with guys that you're not used to playing with and not throwing too much so that you're ready to play Sunday night."
On the last drive looking easy:
"It wasn't easy. That's a great defense. The defense has been playing great for a long time there. There's a lot of continuity with those guys, a great coordinator, a great pass rush, they're really great on the back end and their linebackers are physical, so it wasn't easy. We made the plays we had to."
On what Bruce Arians discussed at halftime:
"He just looked me in the eye and said, 'You got to play. You got to step up your play.' Other than that, nothing else."
On if he was pressing early in the game:
"Yeah, I think so. I was just a little out of sync with a couple different plays and forced one in to Larry. I just shook it off and kept playing."
On his interception on the long throw to J.J. Nelson:
"Just miscommunication. I was thinking one thing and he was thinking another. I need to do a better job of pulling the ball down and seeing it earlier. I started to throw the ball and realized where he was. I just couldn't pull it down. It was too late. I needed to pull it down and make a different play."
On if he thought the penalty on the last drive was going to go the other way:
"No. It was real obvious. The ref was right there. They obviously said the snap count and that's a 15-yarder."
On how much better John Brown felt this week:
"He's getting there. It's good to see him in there all game long. I think he's still slowed a little bit. He doesn't look quite like himself, but time will be his best friend. Hopefully, next week he'll be 100 percent."
On if John Brown and Floyd had both been out:
"Obviously, you want your guys out there, but I love seeing Jaron (Brown) and Brittan (Golden) on the field. They're playmakers. They're guys that you just can't get on the field because the other guys are good. There's greatness inside those guys. Every time Jaron's number is called, he makes plays for us. You want to get him on the field."
On what it means to win back-to-back primetime games:
"They're two big wins. We're just past the halfway point. There's a lot of football left and a lot of division games left. We still got a long way to go and Bruce will tell us we haven't done anything yet. I know that's coming. He's keeping us grounded, which is exactly what a great head coach does. I think we showed we're a good team."
On what he saw from Andy Dalton:
"Great player. He just made plays. To go down and score and get the field goal, he's been a great player since he's been there."
On if he was thinking any differently on final drive:
"It was just about going down and getting a field goal. I'm thinking about how we can get the ball to our guy, number 11 (Fitzgerald), without forcing it. The coverage dictated the ball go his way and he made the play."
On if he made a speech:
"No speeches. No speeches necessary."
On how his approach changed without Floyd:
"It's a tough game to not have Mike because he's a vet and he's so experienced. There are so many things that fall on his shoulders protection-wise, because that's a team that plays cover zero. They bring a lot of different pressures from a lot of different looks. But J.J. made the plays. The long one he broke a tackle on was a great adjustment post-snap that he made. For himself, to make that play, is huge for his confidence."
On if he thinks the offense took a step forward:
"Every week is. We've gotten better each week. We still have a ton of things to clean up. To play the way we did in that second half against that defense says a lot about what we have on our side of the ball."
On if he always wants to play on Sunday night:
"No, I don't like waiting around all day. I like waking up, having my omelet and getting on the bus to kick off at 1. It is nice for us to show off our fans and our stadium like that. The stadium was electric. Our fans were ready for this game. Our fans carried us through this game. For the Bird Gang and the Red Sea to show up for us on Sunday night, that's huge."
On what he puts on his omelet:
"It just kind of depends. I like to do a little spinach so I feel good about myself. I'll normally do spinach, mushroom, onion and turkey sausage because I have to watch my weight."
Cardinals Players
Cardinals WR J.J Nelson
On when he found out Michael Floyd would be out:
"I found out Sunday and Coach (Darryl) Drake came up to me and said we have one man down – Mike. So we need you to step up. I knew then and there I had some big shoes to fill. Mike's been having a great year. He had a great game against Seattle. At that point I just had to get my mind right and be prepared to play."
On what goes through his mind when he gets the news he will play:
"Just prepare. We prepared a lot this week. Carson (Palmer) and I connect a lot. It was just up to me to go out there and execute."
On what happened on his touchdown:
"It was a great call. They were in cover 2 so I hit just hit the seam, split both of them, Carson (Palmer) put it up there and the rest was history."
On what goes through his mind when the ball is in the air and he knows he is open:
"Come down, come down as quick as possible, and it did. I was just thankful to get that first touchdown."
On how it felt to get his first touchdown:
"It felt great. They've been talking about my celebration. I told them that I was tired. I'm glad I got it."
On when he knew he would play in this game:
"I found out last week."
On if it altered his preparation:
"It didn't. Coach said he didn't expect any drop off, because like I said we have a great group of guys at the receiving spot. They helped me out a lot this week with everything. Carson, Mike, Smoke (John Brown), Larry (Fitzgerald), pretty much everybody. Just me going out executing; they left it all up to me."
On what makes this rookie class so special:
"When you get drafted I feel like the expectations are set high. I feel like the season hasn't been going pretty good for me this year, in my opinion. So I just try to come out and produce the best way possible. I know David (Johnson), Rodney (Gunter) and all the other guys have been doing pretty well. So I just tried to come out and make a name for myself."
Cardinals G Mike Iupati
On how the game went today:
"We knew it was going to be a fight. Their front line is very good. We just have to do better in run and pass protection."
On the Bengals not being able to get pressure on Carson Palmer in the second half after getting to him in the first half:
"We just needed to come out and play football. We know we have a good team and we just need to dominate."
On the last minute of the game ending up so close:
"We knew it was a fight, so we just nut up, play football and protect the quarterback."
On his injury in Seattle and how he feels now:
"Yeah that was kind of scary. It's football – stuff happens. Thank God that I'm ok. We have a great medical staff here and it was awesome."
On how much the team wanted to win for Carson Palmer playing his old team:
"It was a big win. Just for him and for us, and B.A. (Bruce Arians) too. Just going onto San Francisco, which is a really good team."
Cardinals WR John Brown
On his touchdown:
"Coach just called a great play with a double move. Dude bit on it real hard and Carson made a great throw."
On how much his hamstring bothered him tonight:
"It bothered me a little bit but it wasn't bad like last week. I was able to fight through it and help my team."
On if success helps the pain go away:
"Oh yeah the pain kind of goes away. I'll feel it in the morning, but it'll be worth it."
On how it felt to dance again:
"Yeah I had to bring it back. I was in a little competition with Drew (Stanton), but I didn't want to tell him. I had to get my fans back."
On who is a better dancer:
"I'm the better dancer. He's just learning from me, stealing a couple moves."
On the inspiration of his dance moves:
"The background of the dance move is something like my whole family, my sister and brothers were all dancers. I got this dubsmash video with my sister doing that same dance, and my daughter watches it over and over. So, I'm like, I'm just going to do. I know my daughter loves it so that's why I do it."
On how great it was to see J.J Nelson play so well:
"That was great. I talked to him all week and told him to be himself. Seeing him in the huddle, you could see that he was ready. He stepped up and made great plays; more than I expected. I'm real proud of him because he's the one that carried this receiving team today."
On what happened in the 3rd quarter when the offense started clicking:
"We talked and defense said they were going to step up and do their job. So we knew we had to match what they were doing and we were on point from there on out. We did all of our assignments right."
On what their speed at receiver does to defenses:
"When we have speed like that it's really scary. It doesn't matter who you put out. J.J did a great job using his speed. Defenders are scared bailing out. So it's really scary when we use our speed."
On if he thought the Bengals were scared of their speed:
"Oh yeah. They were scared. They were bailing out. You could see the separation that J.J had. We just executed what we always practice and that's to play fast."
Cardinals S Deone Bucannon
On matching up against the Bengals offense:
"They're a tough offense. They have a lot of guys, a lot of weapons. When they first came out, they had their momentum going. When we came out in the second half, we didn't change much. We just decided to play football; play Cardinal football. I feel like we matched up well. We had the best corner in the game against one of the best wide receivers in the game. All around the board, I feel like we were good on matchups."
On if anything was said when Rucker and Peterson went down:
"Coach BA (Arians) always harps on next man up, but at the same time, those are two big, key players. You can't ignore that. But at the same time, that gives an opportunity for young guys to step up. Thank God we're all professionals out here. We were able to get those younger guys in there and they stepped up big for us."
On what it means to have back to back wins on primetime:
"It means a lot. Anytime you win in the NFL, it's a big deal because everybody is good at this level. We're just going to keep going, keep pounding."
On if the defense applied more pressure on Andy Dalton in the second half:
"Yeah, I think we did. I think we needed to. He's one of the best quarterbacks and he's good when he's on his spot. He's accurate and makes really good throws. I feel like that was great play calling by Coach Bettcher calling up pressures to get him off his spot and get him uncomfortable to not be able to throw off his back foot."
On if the team is spent after back-to-back up and down games:
"It's actually exciting. At the end of the day, as a team, we know that we've been here before. If it ever comes down to that in the playoffs and bigger games and close games, we've fought here, we've been here before. We've been here in the fourth quarter, down by three, and we've come out on top. It's good to have these games so that we can get used to it. Now we know to look to each other, our brothers, and just rally up and do what we did last time."
Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald
On the game winning drive:
"We work on the two minute drive all the time. It's something that we're very comfortable with. Carson (Palmer) does a great job operating and getting guys in the right places. He has total control of it in terms of the play that we're calling. He did some great things for us. It was a nice way to cap the evening off and Cat (Catanzaro) came through big for us in the clutch."
On what his job is at the end of the game:
"I don't know about that. Carson did a great job distributing the ball around, threw four touchdowns to four different guys today. That shows you the kind of talent that we have on our roster. We lose Mike (Floyd) for the week; he's been playing the best out of anybody in the group the last five weeks and we don't miss a beat. JJ (Nelson) steps in and makes great plays for us and gets brought down by a defensive end. He played his tail off. We're very proud of him. The defense was holding us down while we were stumbling early in the game, only letting them get up seven points on us. Collectively it was a great team win."
On what he said to JJ Nelson after he got caught by a defensive end:
"You run a 4.2 at the combine and you get run down by a 6-8, 290 pound defensive end. It was disheartening. We told him on the field as soon as we were coming over there. I was like, 'Man, you got caught. That was bad.' But he made some plays though. It was a lot of fun to see the rook have some success today. I can't wait to see his interview on Sunday Night Football. You can't get him to talk. He's like a church mouse. He won't open his mouth, so I'm really interested to see that interview."
On if this is JJ Nelson's coming out party:
"Oh yeah. You saw the game a couple weeks ago against Cleveland. Most guys that have that kind of speed don't catch the ball as naturally as he does. He catches it very fluidly. He gets in and out of his breaks. Carson's (Palmer) rapport is growing with him. His confidence is also growing. He just adds another dimension to our already really, really deep corps that we have."
On what the collective team speed adds to the offense:
"You have to pick your poison with us. If you choose to double me, if you choose to double Mike (Floyd), whatever you decide to take away, there're other guys that can beat you. When you have the kind of speed that we have outside, one mistake, one bad angle, one missed tackle, we're capable of making you pay for it. I would love to put four quarters of great football together offensively. We still have not been able to accomplish that. We've shown spurts: quarter here, half there. But we haven't put together the game I know we're capable of."
On if the offense was extra happy to get the win for Carson Palmer:
"No question. This is a game we all wanted to perform well for Carson. He never talks about anything like that, but you know it has significance to him. He played his tail off for us, took some big hits in the first half, kept getting up and fighting for us, and came out and delivered when it was time to."
On what the second half shows about the offense:
"It shows we have a lot of guys who are capable. It also shows that we were pathetic in the first half. We had our opportunities. We definitely feel like we could have scored 40 points or more. That's just what we're capable of. Coach always talks about next man up. The guy behind the starter is just as valuable when he gets his opportunity and he expects you to come out there and have the same results. Guys work tremendously hard in practice and that's a testament to our coaching staff. They get guys ready to play."
On finally starting to win the close games:
"It's hard to say. Early on, we lost to Pittsburgh and we lost to St. Louis. I feel like we had some opportunities throughout the course of the game, St Louis in the redzone. Similar things happened in Pittsburgh. Now we're starting to get our groove in the second half. You saw the drive we put together at the end of the game against Seattle. You saw the two minute drive we had here."
On if he heard anybody simulating a cadence:
"When I was down in the bunch, they were very loud and demonstrative with their shifts. The line shifts like that, it sounded like a cadence. I'm just glad that they finally caught it later in the game. (Domata) Peko is a veteran. He has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. I'm just glad it went in our favor because if it had been a false start, a 10 second run off, it could have been a different outcome."
Cardinals S Tyrann Mathieu
On the how the defense played tonight:
"We know what we are capable of doing. We understand our talent. You know, most of the time you can get behind in the game or we give up plays because we are not executing. I think we just needed to settle down and step up and play big."
On what he was thinking when the Cardinals had the ball with a minute left in the game:
"The way Carson (Palmer) is playing, talk about lateraling all those guys, and Chris Johnson, we believe in those guys. If they have to go 90 yards in 20 seconds, we believe they can do it. Like I said, it was a gutsy call by Bruce (Arians) but to come out there and throw the ball, I don't think many coaches would have done that. As a team we really appreciate that from our head coach and respect that a lot."
On getting the fans into the game right before the sack-fumble recovery:
"It is big time football and we need everybody. Everybody plays a part in it, our fans, every player in this locker room and the players on the practice squad. So, when we get down in the tight games, we need everybody and their energy. Our fans definitely came through tonight and big time players stepped up tonight."
Cardinals DT Calais Campbell
On stepping up when it counted:
"You know, this is a good football team. We worked really hard to take care of each other and we have everyone's back. It was a really good team we were playing tonight and we weren't going to let them beat us. They gave it their best shot and it just felt good for us to keep playing football. We played Cardinal football by playing smart and hard to get the win."
On what he was thinking during the last minute of the game:
"I was thinking that the offense is going to go get us a field goal. You know, we practice that scenario all the time. BA (Bruce Arians) does a really good job of putting us in every single scenario possible so we are ready when it happens. The offense executed it to perfection and it was huge."
On what he was feeling during the winning field goal:
"Satisfaction. We give everything out there. We go out to the football field and play for your teammates, you sell out and leave it all on the field. You know, I am pretty exhausted right now and it feels good when you are exhausted and you are victorious."
On if the team is proving themselves by winning on a national level:
"We just keep playing football and trying to win football games. You know, the only thing we have to prove is if we can do it week in and week out. We owe it to ourselves. We just want to do it for each other and fight to the end. We are playing good teams and it is good football. For us, it's about staying together no matter what happens and to keep playing good football."
Cardinals K Chandler Catanzaro
On the game-winning field goal:
"It was so much fun. The kick was awesome. It was just the punctuation mark at the end of the game. It was just a great game by our guys. I am so proud to be a part of this team. I think resolve is a good word for us. We didn't play our best game by any means but we got it done. Drew Butler and I kind of talked about it earlier this week. We kind of had a feeling about this one. I had a little bit of butterflies but not really. I just knew to trust my process and go through with that. I just needed to focus entirely on that and the snap, the hold and the blocking were great as always. There is four parts of every kick: the snap, hold, blocking up front and the kick. I am just thankful for those guys up there blocking for me and the snapper and holder are great."
On what was going through his mind on the winning field goal:
"I don't know, just a rush I guess. I mean, I just kind of went berserk and I think Mike (Leach) grabbed me there for a little. I don't want to run away from the guys but it was just instincts, maybe from my soccer days. We had so much fun out there. I am just thankful for Carson (Palmer) and the offense for putting me in the position to win the game and I am glad I can get it for all the guys in the locker room."
On if he was thinking he had to kick a longer field goal before the penalty:
"Yeah I did. I didn't realize it was a 15-yard penalty. I was ready regardless. It's the same kick for me whether it's a 48 yarder versus a 32 yarder. It is the same kick, it's the same swing. I just trusted my process and got one right down the middle."
