“Great team win for us. The mentality that we’re in right now, coming down the home stretch, December football. I thought the guys were ready to play. (We are) trying to put it all together, all three phases. I thought we took a step today on special teams. Would’ve been great if (Seahawks WR) Jaelon (Darden) would’ve held onto the ball when he was down by contact, gave me a little scare. Offensively, we’ve been able to run the rock, control the tempo of the game, find some explosives in the run and pass game. Defensively, settled down after that first drive and made some adjustments as we went. Really tried to keep it a multiple score game in the second half, so just a great win. Guys had a great mentality, a great week of prep, so we have to keep stacking it. We’ve got a big game coming up on prime time this week, so (we’re) excited but we’re moving forward and keep stacking wins.”
On what was working in the run game:
“One, we had a great plan. Hats off to the offensive line, I thought they blocked their tails off. I think what you’re seeing is just continual progress on all of our processes and our guys getting on the same page. This is something that we need to build off of moving forward, but the guys did a great job.”
On Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet stepping up:
“Zach did a great job, we gave him a game ball. (We) gave the offensive line a game ball. Just ran really physical and it’s tough to tackle that guy in the open field. He’s got speed and power, so (I’m) excited for him. “
On Seahawks LB Derick Hall drawing holds:
“We were fortunate on some of the penalties that went back, but if you look at them, those are not necessarily unforced errors. Those are, to your point, our guys playing the right way. Derick has had a great season. He’s a very physical player and plays his absolute tail off. Even the short yardage play, they creased there in C-Gap, Derick drew the holding there where they probably would’ve made the play. Those were two huge plays in the game.”
On the work the offensive coaches have done to get to the unit back on track:
“They deserve a lot of credit. I have been saying for weeks that we’re working on this thing. We’re working through all the processes by no stretch of the imagination have we made it, but it’s great to get a breakthrough on productivity on how we want to play. I thought (Seahawks Offensive Coordinator Ryan) Grubb called a great game and onward we go. I think now hopefully this generates some more confidence for us in the things that we’ve been doing and the inputs that we’re putting in. I thought we played a complimentary game today. The ball wasn’t in jeopardy, (Seahawks QB) Geno (Smith) didn’t take any sacks, so that’s what it’s going to take to win, especially late in the year. “
On sticking with the offensive game plan despite Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III’s absence:
“Ken is obviously a dynamite back and we would’ve loved to have him, but so is Zach and (Seahawks RB) Kenny McIntosh has proved that he can run the ball effectively as well. We didn’t feel like we needed to make any adjustments.”
On what has been the most significant change with defense over the last few games:
“Similar to the offense, I think the curve just happened a little bit earlier. It’s a room full of guys and full of men that just decided that we’re going to stick together, do it together, prepare our tails off throughout the week, stay poised and we decide we want to play a certain way. When it doesn’t show up on tape, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Our guys are starting to step up as leaders too, where they’re feeling confident in talking to the group and taking ownership of what shows up on tape. We have to keep building.”
On the command of offensive line:
“I thought that it was probably their best game to date. Geno deserves a lot of credit too. He’s playing really decisive, really accurate. There’s a lot of big time throws going on out there, especially in critical moments at the end of the game. It’s a multiple-score game, but that can change in a blink of an eye. To try to keep moving the sticks on some of those second down throws where it kept drives going, that was big time. Being able to manage the clock and all the situations, he’s doing a tremendous job right now.”
On shuffling the offensive line earlier in the year and getting used to playing together:
“It’s great to go two games in a row with the same five guys. Anytime you have continuity and you can stack reps, that’s important. Now sometimes you have to make necessary adjustments or guys go down and guys have to step, which has happened throughout the season, but it’s been great to get two weeks in a row where the same five guys are out there and they can build off of these performances.”
On feeling like today was the team’s most complete game this season:
“Probably. That’s something that we’ve been really focusing on. Trying to really play complimentary football, all three phases together. This is a really good football team (the Cardinals) and if you’re not careful, they can squeeze the life out of you with how they possess the ball, create explosives, and tilt the field positions. Those are battles, games within the game that you have to win in order to beat a team like this, and our guys did that. “
On Seahawks FS Coby Bryant having INTs in both games this season against the Cardinals:
“He saved our tail on that one. We had a coverage bust actually on that one, so having a post safety that can erase some things is huge. You need those guys, so he’s playing at a high level right now and we’re communicating really well and really happy for Coby because he’s worked extremely hard to prepare himself and really master what we’re asking him to do. He’s doing a great job.”
On Seahawks P Michael Dickson:
“I just saw him walking in here. How about that? The week of all time. This week has been bananas, but it became clear today actually that ‘Dicko’ was going to be able to go and he punted his tail off. Really talking about flipping field position and playing complimentary football. I can’t imagine anybody doing it any better than he does.”
On the win feeling like a birthday present for his newborn son, Jack:
“One day, I’ll tell him about this week and it’ll be good. Maybe a bedtime story.”
On what makes things improve for a defense halfway through a season:
“I’m not sure. I don’t want it to be taking a shift like that. You don’t want to be giving up points at any point. Trading for (Ravens LB) Roquan Smith helped a lot in Baltimore and I think there’s a lot of parallels because we traded for (Seahawks LB) Ernest (Jones IV). I understand that, but we’re a new staff, new players, this is the first time we’ve done everything. I’ve learned a lot on the job about what works, what doesn’t work, what we can execute at a high level, what our guys are good at. All of our coaches are working extremely hard to stay connected and to move forward. I’m glad that it’s coming together and we have to keep building on it. In order to do that, you need to have urgency. Every day bringing it, and enjoy the process. It’s a fun process building a team and having guys buy in, but it takes a lot of work. Our coaches and our players deserve a lot of credit for having that faith and saying, ‘Hey, we’re not necessarily getting the results that we want right now, but we can see some really cool things on tape and there’s opportunities for us to really grow here and if we stick to it and stay together, then the sky’s the limit for us.’ We really believe that, so everybody deserves a lot of credit.”
On how his sleep was this week:
On capitalizing on takeaways:
“I’m going to sound like a broken record and this is the cliche of a lifetime, but it’s true. The turnover margin is huge and to do it in positive territory for our offense. What a great play by (Seahawks WR) Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) and Geno on the sudden-change touchdown. We needed it. We had a slow start on defense and we made it right on defense to be able to affect the ball and put our offense in position to go get a couple scores.”
On if Kenneth Walker could return this week:
“Not sure. We’ll work through it, but we’re not sure.”
On the team’s 5-1 road record and traveling Seahawks fans:
“Out 12s deserve a lot of credit. They were loud. I think we had them on silent cadence for the majority of the game. What an awesome atmosphere. Shout out to everybody showing up, being loud. It was an awesome atmosphere. We’re lucky. We have the best fans in the world.”