Head Coach Kellen Moore
Opening Statement: “Alright, fun game, fun battle. I thought just our guys’ mindset and the way they prepared this week – obviously, when you’ve only won a couple games during the season there is a lot of adversity you face, and so for our guys to come out and have the energy and the physicality that they played with, I thought was a credit to our guys. They are a special group – a group that keeps playing and all three phases, I felt contributed to this game, back and forth. So, it was a really challenging game for both teams and so it was big for our guys to come away with a win.”
On the scramble touchdown by QB Tyler Shough: “That was a big time play by Tyler (Shough). A pass play on first down, trying to get ourselves an opportunity – they did a good job jamming the receivers so we kind of got caught up and it got a little messy on the backside. So, for him to scramble and make a play like that – it seemed like there are scrambles a lot of times on the touchdowns against these guys on film and lo and behold another one showed up.”
On changing things on the fly due to the weather conditions: “(During the) second half for sure, the rain was substantial. It reached a point where it, obviously it was going to impact the game much more – first half was off and on. I thought it was good for us to get the first possession of the game, to have the ball right there, right before it rained because we knew the rain was coming quick. So, that was a big drive for us and then I thought our guys ran the football really well in that second half. I thought it was a good response by our guys, and the physicality showed up.”
On beating both teams that are tied for first in the NFC South division: “Our guys have faced a lot of adversity this year. They’ve grown a lot as we’ve gone through this journey. So, for our guys to keep battling, keep giving ourselves opportunities like this – I think division games are important, no matter what. Every single year it’s important, you play these guys multiple times every single year. There are going to be big battles in the future years too. So, every opportunity in the division game is huge.”
On how QB Tyler Shough played: “I thought resiliency was awesome. [He had a] really good first drive for us. I thought we got stuck there for a while, much of the second quarter was a little lethargic there, and we weren’t executing at a very high level. So, then for our guys to respond in the second half, certainly with the run game but then making plays when he had to. [He had] some big third downs. I thought [Devaughn] Vele and ‘CO’ (Chris Olave) made some big time third downs, Juwan (Johnson) made some third downs in there. It seemed like there were timely plays by those guys.”
On the stops on fourth down: “Just credit to our defense, big time. Fourth downs – big time, big time plays whether it’s the run game or the pass game. [In the] run game [had] big time stops – ‘Grando’ (Carl Granderson) made the big tackle for loss. Kool-Aid [McKinstry] on the sideline, there is the play where there is a catch, and he is physical at the catch point and makes it a bobble catch. So, credit to our guys they made some big time plays.”
On his thoughts about RB Devin Neal: “Devin (Neal) was awesome, really cool to see him go out there and play the way he did. Really lead that run game, the physicality he played with, the finish that he played with. Then even on the third downs – I thought the check down completion, he makes a play there and get a first down, that was huge in this game.”
On how physical the run game was in the second half: “Yeah, just proud of our guys and the way they played. The resiliency, not everything is going to be perfect in a football game, you just keep battling, keep going through it. I thought that drive to start to start the second half was really really important for us and the way it was pretty much a run every time and they came off the ball and made some plays.”
On a game like this being important for the QB Tyler Shough’s confidence:” These are great opportunities for him to learn. You’re going to play on the road, a really good opponent – this opponent is going to be battling all the way until the end. Then the weather, obviously, became a little bit of a factor so we had to face that. I thought his resiliency was really special.”
On if they considered challenging the fourth and short call: “Yeah, it was a little bit of a tricky thing because initially we viewed it the way it came in – it looked like it was being reported as a first down, so we tried to go tempo. In the reverse scenario to try and make sure we can snap the football fast because it initially looked like it was a first down, then they pulled it back and it turned into fourth and one. Then we weren’t able to get the replay there, so that was a little bit of a challenging situation for us. We weren’t able to get it done.”
On the issue with the call: “We assumed it was a first down, went tempo because obviously it felt like it was close either way, then it got pulled back to a fourth and short. We weren’t able to get the camera just because we were already in tempo and so usually TV is going to go right to the live action in most scenarios. So, a little bit tricky.”
On the interception thrown by Tyler Shough: “They were just not on the same page (Tyler Shough and Chris Olave). Obviously, something for those two guys to work through. They can get it done.”
On winning this game: “It’s a good win for our guys, it’s awesome. Again, for our guys to be battling, playing December football – still playing meaningful December football. Maybe in a little bit of a different way than you’d hope. Obviously, I think our guys are battling for each other, they’re playing for each other, they want to win all these games. I thought just the way our guys responded for four quarters was really special.”
On celebrating in the endzone during the touchdown in the fourth quarter: “I got down there pretty far, yeah.”
On any update for OL Asim Richards: “We’ll see, he has an ankle (injury). He wasn’t able to return, we’ll get the update tomorrow.”
On the thought process behind the 34-yard rushing touchdown by QB Tyler Shough: “The longer one was a read option play where we’re using some motion to create some lead blockers for him. Used the play a couple of times, he pulled and he was – it was really a special run by him. I mean, for him to open up and run away from some people – it was really a big time play.”
On running similar plays: “Similar, very similar. We used a few read option plays for him this game. A couple different variations but certainly showed up a number of times this game.”
On QB Tyler Shough’s ability to run and if it helps open up plays: I think it’s a big part, especially when you play Head Coach Todd Bowles and the way Tampa is going to play defense. He does a phenomenal job stopping the run. I can’t remember how many times I feel like we’ve played Tampa and it’s been really really brutal to try and run the football. So, big time credit to our guys. I thought Tyler (Shough) having that ability to run the football obviously played a factor into it. Big time plays by our guys.”
On four-minute offense: “Yeah, the four-minute offense is obviously big – it’s not all run game. There’s going to be hard third downs in there – you’ve got to get conversions. I thought our guys did some really good stuff. We’ve got to bleed [it] down a little bit – obviously, we would have loved to have one more first down and finished things off the right way. But, credit to our defense – they responded really well and to get that fourth down stop was big time.”
On EDGE Carl Granderson: “Yeah, big time. Two tackles for loss – game ball worthy. Big time plays. I thought our guys were relentless. Baker (Mayfield) made some big time plays on third down using his legs and I think that’s the challenge when you play these guys is that Baker can make those extended plays and that showed up in the game. That was the challenge for our guys – our guys, just to keep battling, was cool.”