Fisher, Hill, Mason, Long, Laurinaitis …post-game 12/11 … transcripts

Head Coach Jeff Fisher

(Opening Statement)
“I guess you have to credit the Cardinals. It’s hard to win football games when you don’t score touchdowns. And they won it and we didn’t. We knew we were going to face a tough defense. Their defense has been playing well all year. The difference in this ball game was the ability to get the ball in the end zone. I thought our defense played well enough for us to win, but in situations like this when your offense is struggling against a good defense, somebody’s got to make a play. You kind of expect those kind of things out of your defense with a close one. Nearly had that fumble recovery (DB Janoris Jenkins) Jenks almost had it, what could have been a difference maker. Just very disappointed that we just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

(On why Arizona’s defense was so effective)
“They played well up front and we had difficulty getting the run game going. Everything we do, most people do, is build it off that run game. Get the run game going then you get your shots, you have your opportunities. I think we’ll look back and say we had the ball down there several times and didn’t get seven, had to come away with three. We needed points, if I go for it on fourth and goal on the ½ and we don’t get it then we’re in trouble. We needed points. Elected to get the points there and with the timeouts and the two-minute warning, you have a potential solid field position change down by six. (QB) Shaun (Hill) sailed that ball to (WR) (Stedman) Sted (Bailey), could have been a big play for us in that drive.”

(On consideration given to going for it on 4th down)
“We’re down there first down, and down their second down, and down their third down. We had opportunities. But if we don’t get points then we’re in trouble. So we needed 10, we got three thinking that we had plenty of time and would have a shot.

(On no offense in third quarter)
“No it wasn’t. I looked up and there we had seven first downs it seemed like mid-way through the second quarter. And it stayed up there until the fourth quarter, we just couldn’t get anything going.”

(On if turnovers effected outcome)
“Well it does. I mean credit the defense from the standpoint of sudden change going out there and keeping it to a field goal. When you turn the ball over deep in your own territory like that they’re going to get points. That was unfortunate for us and then we just didn’t get our hands on any balls.”

(On why it was so hard to move the ball)
“We had opportunities. We made some plays, but we just couldn’t consistently put drives together. We couldn’t convert third downs to keep drives alive. And they’ve got an outstanding defense. Outstanding defense.”

(On the Jenkins interception)
“I thought that was a good call. The ball was loose on the ground. You have to maintain possession throughout and it looked like that ball was loose on the ground. I thought that was the correct call.”

(On the late Cardinals fumble)
“That was the play that we needed in this game. We got the ball out, but we just couldn’t get on it. If Jenks turns one way and not the other he might have a better chance to get it, but that’s football.”

(On if these are the kind of games he expects versus division rivals)
“We’ve had several like this now. Their field position, their run game, stop the run, get off the field on defense, and play good special teams. That’s what our division’s coming down to.”

Rams QB Shaun Hill

(On if this loss was disappointing)
“It was very disappointing. It was the next opponent on the schedule and we wanted to win. It was a divisional opponent, a home game, all of those things. It’s very disappointing.”

(On what led to the offense’s struggles)
“Lack of execution. We had a breakdown here or there. Some of it was mental errors, which was the bad part. Physical errors are going to happen. We’re human. On a short week, we have to be dialed in that much more and not have the mental errors and mental breakdowns. That was very discouraging.”

(On the final plays of the two scoring possessions)
“You’d certainly like to have those plays and convert those drives into touchdowns. That changes the game. We’ve got to give them credit, too. They’re a very good defense. The one in particular, third down there late in the game (on the 1-yard line), they did a good job of taking it all away. They really did. You’ve got to give them credit, too.”

(On Arizona’s coverage of the Rams’ receivers on 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line)
“Yeah, they played it well.”

(On if this is a game that highlights the importance of small details)
“Absolutely. That’s what was lacking tonight was the details. You can’t beat a good team without hitting those details and being dialed in on those. That’s where we came up short.”

(On if Arizona presented something different defensively this week)
“They do something different every week. That’s how they are on defense. They’re a game-plan defense, and they’re going to bring something that you haven’t seen. That’s just the way they are. You have to be able to adjust on the fly in order to execute against them, and just follow your rules—the things you’ve just been taught to do. We didn’t do that well enough.”

(On what happened on the final drive on his pass to WR Stedman Bailey)
“I don’t know, I’ll have a look at it. Obviously, I missed him.”

Rams RB Tre Mason

(On fumbling the ball)
“There’s really no excuse for a fumble. I’ll never give an excuse for a fumble no matter how it happened. That’s my job as a running back to hold on to the ball.”

(On how tough it was to get the running game going)
“They really had a nice scheme on defense. They played us well today and kept us in check in our run game, guys like (Cardinals DE) Calais Campbell, their front seven, their DBs. They’re pretty good players up front.”

(On if once they made the Rams one dimensional it was tough to get the passing game going)
“We were just trying to find things to work around their defense. We didn’t really come up with the right things at certain times that we needed it.”

Rams DE Chris Long

(On the Rams’ defense struggling to get to the quarterback)
“It’s just getting the ball out. They get the ball out pretty well. Their line played well, but I think it was just a function of them having a good offense, a good system, and they have good weapons to get the ball to.”

(On if the defense felt like they needed to make a play)
“Yeah. We’re a team and you want to bail out your buddies and we didn’t make the big play to do it, whether it’s a strip sack or a ‘pick 6’ or something. Something had to be done and we just flat out didn’t answer the bell on it and it’s crushing because we wanted that one.”

(On whether or not the team felt like they could win going into the second half)
“Yeah, it was 6-3. You are a play away from being up. We can make that play on defense. We thought we made some good adjustments in the second half. We got a lot of stops, but sometimes stops aren’t enough and you have to take the ball away or make a big play.”

Rams LB James Laurinaitis

(On how small the margin for error was tonight)
“I mean, you’re playing this team, you know they’ve got a good defense. Typically, you go into a football game and you say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to hold a team to under 17 points.’ But, I’ve been raised under the thought process from my coaches in college and even here quite frankly, that if we get six we’ve got to hold them to three. I just think they made more plays than we did tonight. I think our defense played well, but we didn’t play well enough to win this football game. I think that’s always our goal going into every game is how do we play well enough at the end of the day to have more points than they do?”

(On if there was ever a sense that the defense needed to force a turnover)
“Yeah man, we kept saying it. It’s our goal every week, regardless of the game to score on defense. We put those standards on ourselves and we just didn’t come up with that play. That’s the difference. They got the fumble and we didn’t get one. Little things in these games, especially when you play good football teams. Just seemed like they got it tonight.”

(On how tough it was to get to the quarterback)
“I think we tried a couple different rush things different from the first time we played them. Just tried to get the ball out quick, make them throw it quick. It was just tough. (Cardinals QB) Drew (Stanton) made some plays. He escaped a couple of times. We had our opportunities to get him down in the pocket, we just didn’t do it. The thing I’m most upset about is all the rushing yards that we gave up. However, I don’t think it was anything that killed us, but it was just knowing how well we played the run the first time. We had that ability to do it again and for whatever reason we didn’t do it. Like I said, it didn’t kill us, but I’m proud of the way these boys keep fighting. I know the pride that the group has in this room and we’re going to continue to fight. We’re going to rest up this weekend. We’ll go in tomorrow, we’ll watch it, we’ll correct it and we’ll take the weekend off and then come back and really focus on beating New York. There’s a ton of pride in this locker room.”