Brian Flores – October 28, 2019 (Postgame)
Download PDF version
Monday, October 28, 2019
Postgame – Pittsburgh
Head Coach Brian Flores
(The third-and-20* just before half, you guys sold out. Can you explain the thinking and why you did that?) – “We felt like that was the right call in that situation. We blitzed them a few times and had some success and they got us on that one. It’s one play in the game. We’re still up at halftime. We’ve still got an opportunity to play well and win the game. Look, there are bad plays in the game; there are good plays in the game. You’ve got to be able to overcome to bad ones. We just need to play better (in the) second half.”
(Some missed opportunities in the first half. You scored the two touchdowns but a couple balls up for grabs – CB Xavien Howard gets one interception but a couple other balls were up in the air that were available and how this team could afford to leave those…) – “Yeah, there are plays to be made out there. We made a few plays early. There were some other plays that were available to us (that) we didn’t make. Those are plays we need. I thought we came out strong in the first half and like you said, there were still a couple of plays we could have made, but we just didn’t make them.”
(You were able to get pressure in the first half by blitzing and doing a lot of different things. Then it seemed like you got caught there, the one with the long touchdown to Steelers WR Diontae Johnson – wide open – I guess you kind of live and die by it?) – “I think the guys did a good job defensively getting pressure on them. We wanted to stay with it. I don’t have any regrets on the call. I think they made a play just like we had made some plays prior to that defensively, and we just move on.”
(Were you asking CB Xavien Howard to cover WR Diontae Johnson on that play from the outside? It was supposed to be a man-to-man coverage there?) – “Yeah, it’s a blitz, so everybody’s in man coverage. Yes.”
(What was the reason for the timeout before that play, the third-and-20?) – “We wanted to take a look at what they were in.”
(With 20 yards to go, what was the nature of being so aggressive?) – “We wanted to be aggressive. We can second-guess a lot of calls and I’m not going to second guess that one. I think we’d had success with the call and they made a play; but at the same time, it’s 14-10 at halftime. We had opportunities in the second half. We didn’t take advantage of them. I’m not going to sit here and say that was the play that was the detriment of the game. We turned the ball over four times so as a total team, we didn’t do enough to win the game. It’s easy to look at one play and say, ‘that’s the one,’ but there were 150 other plays in the game.”
(It’s true that there were a lot of plays, but the momentum – you seemed to have control of the game and – the momentum seemed to swing.) – “Momentum shifts – there are ebbs and flows in every game. You’ve got to deal with (momentum shifts). That’s part of playing in the National Football League. Look, if you can’t deal with a momentum shift – that’s part of the game. We’ve got to be able to overcome that, move on, play a good second half. I’m not going to make excuses on one play. It’s never one play. It’s a series of plays and we didn’t make them, especially in the second half.”
(What was the issue on the measurement of the yards on that questionable first down or not a first down?) – “It was a first down, then it was not a first down. Obviously we felt like there wasn’t enough to overturn it. It got overturned and we move on. We’ve got to move on to the next series. That’s what we did; but that’s a big play in the game. Again, we didn’t get the call on that one and that’s fine. We’re not going to make excuses about that or point fingers at officials or anything like that. We need to be able to go back out there and get off the field. We weren’t able to do that.”
(You mentioned the four turnovers – four to one – tough to overcome that.) – “Yeah, it’s always tough to overcome that. Turnovers – like we say every week – that’s the stat that determines winning and losing a lot in this league and four to one is not going to get it done. We need to play better.”
(You’ve been outscored 130-20 in second halves. What was your assessment of this second half? Was it any different?) – “I think we turned the ball over. I think we were moving the ball fairly well and then the turnovers, that’s what really got us. I think it was three in the second half. It’s hard to get anything going when you turn the ball over.”
(We saw CB Xavien Howard got hurt. Can you update us on how he’s doing?) – “He wasn’t able to finish the game, so we’ll evaluate that over the course of the week and see where he is.”
(Are you worried a bit that CB Xavien Howard has kind of had a few of these knee injuries?) – “I think injuries are a part of the game. We’ve just got to – the next guy’s got to be able to go in there and perform. Obviously ‘X’ is one of our best players and made a couple plays for us tonight, but injuries happen on every team. Again, we’re not going to sit here and make excuse about a guy being out. We’ve got to go in there and the next guy’s got to perform, which we didn’t have that. I thought Pittsburgh went out there, they made some good throws, good catches – contested catches whether it was (JuJu) Smith-Schuster or (Diontae) Johnson. They made some plays out there as well. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your hat to those guys for making a couple of those plays.”
(On changing the game plan in the second half without CB Xavien Howard.) – “We’ve got a backup for everyone so the game plan doesn’t change dramatically and I think the guys that went in there, there were some good throws and good catches. A couple instances I’m sitting there going sometimes you’ve got to tip your hat to your opponent. (Mason) Rudolph made some good throws. (JuJu) Smith-Schuster made some good catches. (Diontae) Johnson made a couple good catches. We didn’t make enough plays.”
