Was that Anthony Fasano touchdown just like you drew up?"Yeah, exactly. It took a lot of practice, a lot of reps all week."
Have you ever had anything like that?"Never had anything like that. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like that. We got the bounce there."
What was your view on if he was down or not? Could you tell?"I couldn't tell, no. I mean, I saw the ball was up and first thing, as a quarterback seeing the ball was up, and freaked. And then saw him make the catch. I didn't know what happened. It was a bang, bang play. Once they put it up on the scoreboard though it looked pretty clean."
Was this just a regular, mundane kind of win?"No, I don't know what those kinds of wins are in the National Football League. I haven't known any of those. They're hard, hard, hard wins and this felt like a very talented team coming in here. Nothing to lose. They were going to run around and had a new quarterback coming in. I thought it was important for us to start fast and I thought we did that."
These guys came in with 24 sacks, same as your team, and have some pretty big names and they didn't touch you until your last pass?"Yeah, that was one where I was just going to keep the clock rolling rather than throwing the ball away there and taking an incompletion."
With all their blitzes and schemes, what was key today? How did that line keep you protected?"It certainly starts with the guys up front. You know, the protection unit being on the same page anytime you face a front like that, that likes to create chaos. They've got guys walking around, playing all the different positions, doing a lot of stuff, especially on third down. But then it does go out into the perimeter unit and everybody has to be on the same page with what we're seeing. Adjustments get made on the fly. I thought collectively we did a great job handling that today. That was a good, good front that has gotten a lot of pressure these last few weeks, so I thought we handled it well. It certainly starts with the guys up front though, setting the tone."
You guys are 5-3, what kind of achievement is that, the way you guys started the season?"You know, we're not even thinking about that right now. It's the furthest thing from our mind. I think this team has a lot of confidence right now, we feel like we've been playing good football and taking the right steps in the right direction these last few weeks. Every week, you're going out and doing whatever it takes to get a W. They all look different. None of them are the same, but that's the goal, to go out there and compete there. I thought the defense in the second half with all of those fourth downs, they sealed the game off for us. I thought it was a heck of an effort and they dominated in the second half."
How does your team being on the same page help your completion percentage?"The first part, it's definitely a reflection of the group. We're all in this together and it's the entire perimeter group, the guys outside, our tight ends, our backs, all those guys take so much pride in the passing game and being efficient so I think it starts as a group and everyone being on the same page. It comes through a lot of reps and a lot of work. It's literally all of us seeing the same thing at the same time and thinking the same thing and then going out and doing it. Once again on the Fasano touchdown, I don't even know what to say about that. It was a freak play."
You mention efficiency. That doesn't really apply to dynamic. Do you mind the difference?"I don't care what you call it as long as it results in a win. To be honest, I don't care. You always want to be efficient in the passing game. I certainly don't think that's a negative thing. Efficiency is what it's about in the passing game. Besides the fourth quarter, we were pretty dynamic as well. I thought we were moving the ball well. I thought we were mixing it up well, tough to defend. There in the fourth quarter, left a little bit out there that we needed to look at, but other than that I thought we did some good things."
How big of a factor was the home field advantage? "The home field is huge every week we're here. It's something. To come out and see the fans and get them all riled up like that and to sit there and watch it every big down. That second half there, all those big third downs, big fourth downs. It's tough; it's tough to be on the other side of that. Those affect games. It does. It affects offense, communication. We have such a great fan base. Being here, playing here – best stadium in football. It's just special each time we get to do it."
What makes you guys so successful on third downs? "I feel like I say it every week. It's first and second down efficiency. It's staying ahead of the chains, staying ahead of schedule, putting ourselves in good third downs and then I kind of feel like we have to balance it. We've been able to these last few weeks. It's tough; kind of pick your poison. I feel like we convert some running the ball, passing and that's because we've stayed in good third downs."
Priest Holmes was back today along with other great Hall of Fame players. What was it like to be able to play in front of them? "I got to meet Priest yesterday and I talked to him for a while. Class, class guy. I grew up watching him. Heck of a talent obviously as a football player. I think that this organization does such a great job from the top down just with the family feel, but I think part of that is the alumni. They come out here to all our camps, our practices. We get to know them. They come hang out with us, they come to our games. I remember the note we got last year. Priest wrote us a hand written note and gave it to all of us in our lockers. Just encouragement that they were watching and rooting for us. Unique feel here with this organization and the whole family feel. That's part of it with the alumni."
Going off of Anthony Fasano's touchdown. Is that the sort of thing that happens when things are going your way? "You'd like to think so. You'd like to think it comes from just playing hard, alert and aggressive and Fasano playing hard and being into the game and all of a sudden the ball bounces his way and he makes a play, but who knows. It landed in a little bit of a slot too."
Does it bother you at all that you guys have not thrown a touchdown pass to a wide receiver? "No. I mean, the most important thing is that we're scoring touchdowns. That's the biggest thing. We want to score points and we want to score touchdowns. I don't care if Jamaal (Charles) or Knile (Davis) run the ball in or throw them outside. It really doesn't matter. It speaks on the kind of group we have here. Guys that play for each other aren't looking at their stats or fantasy numbers each week. They want to go out there and they want to win." Was Dwayne Bowe your intended receiver on that? "He was. Yes."