Head Coach John Harbaugh
(opening statement) "OK, first of all, I just want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. And I was going to say this win or lose, so I just want to put this out there. It's Happy Thanksgiving and it's also Happy Hannukah. Is everybody aware of that? Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hannukah. That only happens once in every 70,000 years, so it's pretty awesome. Just want to be thankful for these men, for our families, for all of the Ravens fans, for everybody in the stadium, for everybody out there who couldn't be in this game – whether they're home or they're in a lot of tough places that we hear about every day – that care about our football team. And beyond that, thank you to our Lord in heaven above for the provision he provides and the spirit he gives us to be who we are and to shine like our guys did tonight
It's been a great Thanksgiving night for the Ravens, I can tell you that. Congratulations to the Steelers. That is a heck of a football team – hard-fought as always, much character on that side. They never are finished. It's never over when you play the Steelers, and it's never over when you play the Ravens – that's why these games are so great. So, it's just an honor to be a part of a game like this and to go against a team like that like we did."
(on the team's ability to convert on third downs) "I feel like we were probably in more third-and-manageables. I feel like we were. I thought our quarterback made some incredible plays, and at times, scrambled around and finding guys and getting some open guys, making some loose plays. Their quarterback did the same thing. Joe [Flacco], of late, has really been moving around and making some incredible plays outside the pocket. Off the top of my head, that's what comes to mind. I thought we had a couple pretty good catches. Go to [Brandon] Stokley's catch early in the game – that's what jumps out at me. [It was] an important part of the game, obviously. We had drives; we extended drives. We didn't always finish them the way we wanted to with seven [points], but we got points, and that was the difference in the game."
(on Justin Tucker) "Well, what more can you say? He has gotten every accolade, and it's been well-deserved. So, 'Tuck' [Justin Tucker] deserves the credit, as does his operation and his protection. They all did a great job. Those guys work extremely hard, and it shows up in a game like this, and it has the last couple weeks."
(on Steelers Head coach Mike Tomlin on the sideline during Jacoby Jones' long KOR) "I was wondering, did they credit him with a tackle on that? *[laughter] *Hey, that stuff happens. It happens. I really don't have anything to say about it other than, stuff like that can happen."
(on if the defensive stand at the end reminded him of the Super Bowl) "It did. We called some of the same calls we called in the Super Bowl, as a matter of fact. So, I thought our guys did a great job. They got us in a pick play there, where we didn't play it the way we wanted to. I thought we should have had the play covered for the touchdown as well, but they did a great job on the two-point play. Chykie Brown coming in and covering it the way he did, I thought was really good."
(on there being memorable plays tonight) "I don't know. Maybe it's because it just happened, and it's fresh in our memory that there are more memorable plays tonight. But this is a classic. This is another classic Ravens-Steelers game. These games just keep happening. I thought the last time we played them this year was a classic, but this was better played. I thought both teams have improved quite a bit since the last time we played, and it was really a well-played game."
(on not being able to sack Ben Roethlisberger) "The gameplan was to get to him. We wanted to get to him. Early in the game, he was stepping up and making too many plays stepping up inside, so we got pushed away from him a little bit. He does such a great job moving around. Later in the game, he went sideways and made a couple plays. He's just hard to keep in the pocket. One time, he sat there forever and made a throw. He may be the toughest guy to defend in the pocket in football."
(on not using the Wildcat formation) "It was the flow of the game. We had it in the gameplan. We will continue to have it in the gameplan. But the flow of the game dictated the way we were playing, and it wasn't in our best interest to put it out there."
(on the Brandon Stokley and Jimmy Smith injuries) "[Brandon] Stokley – he has got a knee. We'll see about it tomorrow. Jimmy [Smith] should be OK. And Elvis [Dumervil] had the thing at halftime where he came back and played, so that's where we're at."
(on taking shots down the field) "We have some guys who can run, as you know Sal [Paolantonio], so that's number one. Number two, they're going to put some guys up there and put some pressure on you, whether it's blitzing or it's defending the run. And when you do that, you might open up some deep opportunities. I think right out of the gates, we wanted to make sure we took advantage of those things and push them off us a little bit. We do think we can make plays down the field with our guys. We've felt that way all year, and hopefully here in the next four weeks and pushing into the playoffs if we can make this run, that should be a big part of our offense."
(on how he feels about the team's playoff chances) "I feel the same way I felt about them two weeks ago and four weeks ago – that we're in control of our destiny. It's up to us to win games. And I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of our guys finding a way to win the last two games and finishing the way they have. What have we lost – five games – by the narrowest of margins, and those are the games that we need to find a way to win and we need to be able to do that. I feel like we're getting there. I feel like we're a really good football team. But you need to go out and prove it; you need to prove it every week."
(on Chykie Brown's performance at the end of the game) "Great job by Chykie [Brown]. He got over-aggressive on the play earlier in the drive where he kind of whiffed, and they got the fade to Antonio [Brown]. But it says a lot. Chykie's been playing very well technique-wise, [and] practice for about the last two months has really been good. So, you expect him to play well when he gets out there."
QB Joe Flacco
(on if he showed a lot of emotion in tonight's game) "I was just frustrated, mostly. There were so many opportunities out there for us to score points and just win big and put the game away. We didn't do it, and we left that to happen. That's just frustrating. When you're not converting and scoring touchdowns, you're hoping that doesn't happen, but in the back of your mind, you're thinking, 'Man, this is going to catch up to us.'"
(on what kept the team from playing better tonight) "We just shot ourselves in the foot. A couple of catches that we could have made, false starts … On the one that I remember, I rolled out right and tried to hit Torrey [Smith] on the right side, but we had a guy wide open on the left sideline. We just didn't get it picked up the right way – little stuff like that. The penalties, it's not even stuff that you can fix in practice. We've just got to be a little better. I've probably got to have a little bit better rhythm with my cadence – stuff like that. Mike Tomlin stopped us one time. (laughter) I took some flak for joking around in the Super Bowl and saying that maybe you should run onto the field and tackle somebody if this guy breaks it. That's exactly what he just did. He was looking at the big screen the whole entire time. He knew where he was, and he knew where Jacoby [Jones] was. He pulled my move. *(laughter) *He did what I thought we should do."
(on how he feels about the team's playoff chances after the win tonight) "I thought we played pretty well tonight, to be honest with you. That's why I was so frustrated. We did so many things really, really well and put ourselves in so many positions to put points on the board and put a lot on there tonight. Anytime you score 22 points, you basically kicked all field goals and you scored on a lot of drives. You didn't punt the ball, you didn't turn the ball over. We did so many things well. We were right there. That's why I think it's probably a little more animated and so frustrating, because we were just right there. You could taste it, and we just didn't convert a lot. I'm honestly pretty happy with how we played tonight and how we performed. We've just got to get better at those little things that are going to get us over the edge."
(on if he was frustrated knowing the game would most likely be close at the end) "Like I said, you're hoping that it doesn't catch up to you, that you keep kicking field goals. But, in the back of your mind, you're thinking that it probably is at some point, and it did – or it almost did."
(on if a Ravens-Steelers game is very different from other games) "It's so built up, and the fans have a great time with it. But, it's tough to not feel that energy from the stadium and just get up and get going. You saw a couple of times where Ray [Rice ran] one up in there and getting over top of a guy. Then the next drive, Ryan Clark comes in and fills the hole and just smashes Ray. In the beginning of the football game, it was kind of like a boxing match out there early on. There are definitely high emotions, and a lot that goes into this football game. It's really because winning it means a lot, in terms of the grand scheme of things. We all understand that."
(on if he feels confident that the Ravens will make the small corrections) "It's not hard stuff; it's just simple little things that you do every day. It's not like we don't have the ability, we don't have the talent, or we don't have the work ethic. It's not like we don't have any of those things. It's just the little things that we're losing concentration for a half of a second, or whatever it is. [It is] very easily fixed."* *
(on if those mistakes should be happening at this time in the season) "It's the NFL. They're forced in some way. You're thinking about a lot. You're thinking about coming off the ball; you're thinking about getting after your guy. There's a lot that goes on out there. [There are] big, tough, physical people that move fast … it just is what it is. We've got to get better at it. You're always going to make a couple of those, we've just got to cut down on how many we're making."
(on how much better WR Jacoby Jones makes him) "Jacoby [Jones] is huge. Any time you can get two guys on the field that can run like he and Torrey [Smith] can, it makes it a tough match up, because they've got to pick one to feel like they've got to stop. Jacoby's doing a great job running some of the short routes, so that when he does get deep, it's usually a pretty big role. Not to mention the kicking game and the field position he has given us. He's been doing great. One of the big plays he had today was on the third down. I just hung out in the pocket a little bit and was looking for somebody down the field. He did a great job of seeing what I was doing and rolling back out to the sideline to make a huge catch. That definitely paid off in the end."
K Justin Tucker
(on if his confidence is at an all-time high) "I don't think I'd say anything about being at an all-time high, or I really don't even acknowledge when people tell me that I'm on some sort of streak or anything. I just feel like I'm doing my job. I've got two guys that are on the field that are helping me do it to the best of their abilities; Morgan [Cox] and Sam [Koch] are doing great for me, and then [kicking consultant] Randy [Brown] and [assistant head coach/special teams coordinator] Jerry [Rosburg] and all of us together at practice. That's where I get my confidence from – what we do out on the practice field at Owings Mills. We feel like we're unique. We work; we put in some hours. We pay very close attention to detail, and as long as we're doing those things, we know we always have a chance to be successful. We increase that chance by the way that we work."
(on if he's in a good groove now) "I do feel like I'm just hitting the ball well. I feel like I'm hitting my ball. I feel like I've been hitting my ball all season long, aside from one game, I had two that I didn't like. But other than that, I feel like I'm hitting my ball, and as long as we have this continuity between snap/hold/kick that we have had over the last several weeks, we know we're going to be coming back with points, no matter what."
(on knowing the game is likely to be close) "I go into every single game knowing it's going to be on me and expecting the game to come down to one or two or three points or one possession. If I didn't prepare like that, then what am I doing out there on the practice field? That's a big part of our mental preparation –going into every single game, regardless of who we're playing, what time of the year it is, what the conditions are like, knowing that at the end of the game, there's a very real possibility that it could come down to a single snap, a single hold and a single kick. That's just the NFL."
WR/RS Jacoby Jones
(on what he saw coming down the sideline involving Steelers coach Mike Tomlin) "The same thing you saw. Once I broke, until I hit the hole, I'm running outside, I'm looking; I promise you, I'm looking at him the whole time. I'm like, 'Does he know he's on the field?' I'm running, I'm looking at him, and as I get close I'm like, "Is he going to move?' I just weaved to get out of the way. It broke my stride a little bit, which I still shouldn't have got caught. It is what it is, but [they] made the tackle. If I was him, I'd do the same thing."
(on if it cost him a TD) "Did it? I don't like to blame other people for the actions. I still should have scored. I should have broke the tackle or something. As long as we got the W, I'm fine. That's all that matters."
(on if Tomlin said anything to him) "No, not at all."
(on if he saw that it seemed like Tomlin's right foot was on the field of play) "Before I got to him, he was halfway on the field. He gave me a little juke, and I tried to juke him. It is what it is."
(on how weird that is and if that speaks to the integrity of the game) "You can't just say that because It's so many times you're on the sideline where you all will be standing close to the field and you see us breaking our neck to get back when the ball comes our way, you know? So I can't just put it on that, but it happens, I guess."
(the rule says you're not even supposed to be on the white stripe, where Tomlin was standing) "No, he was on the field."
(on if he heard about the Jason Kidd incident in the NBA where he spilled soda on the court) "Hey, man, coaches are smart nowadays. You've got to do what you've got to do. It's hard to get a win out here on these streets."
(on what's been the biggest difference for him the past few weeks) "I'm getting back to myself physically, health-wise. I'm starting to get my bounce back, and I'm just getting back into rhythm with Joe [Flacco] again, and…all that sync's coming in. I'm just getting back to myself, where I was Week 1, had to do all that again. I'm feeling good again."
CB Lardarius Webb
(on the win tonight) "It really means a lot to us. It's a great team win. The offense came out and they put up some points. The special teams gave us field position with Jacoby Jones, and Sam Koch punted the ball well. Justin Tucker gave us points, and the defense came through in the end. Chykie Brown, when his time came he made a play. That's what you need in the NFL, next man up."
(on the Baltimore Ravens secondary) "The defensive backs did a great job. I thought we did a good job of just getting our hands on them and playing them physical. It was just about letting them make a mistake, but they played a good game. But when we had to, we made a play."
(on stopping the Steelers running game) "They wanted to crack the safeties and put our corners one-on-one with their running backs, so we have to come in and we have to make a play. I think every offense would like their running back on a corner and force him to make the tackle."
(on him personally playing the run) "I just try and play 110%, I just run to the ball and make plays. You know I like contact, when I get a chance to make a play I give it my all."
(on every week being a must win) "We're playing the playoffs right now. We just have to be focused during the week, just like you are in the playoffs. You just can't lose, or you're out. Everybody's coming together as a group, and I think we are playing well."* *
G/T Marshal Yanda
(on the win tonight) "It was a dog fight, and it came down to the very last play. It's a good team win."
(on the Ravens' running game) "We tried to get them [Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce] going as much as we could. We did enough to win the game and I think it's something we can build on. It was fun out there, we just need to finish in the red zone. It was a good team win."
(on the Ravens' offense clicking) "We're close, we just have to finish. I'm just happy we got the win. We can build on it, we're still in the hunt, and it's time to go work on Minnesota [Vikings]."
(on the physical nature of the game) "It was just competitiveness, guys were fighting. It's tough out there, and it gets a little chippy."
(on the importance of tonight's win) "It's pretty much the playoffs now. We have to keep grinding and keep fighting. We took a step in the right direction today."* *
CB Corey Graham
(on tonight's game) "It was unreal to be honest with you. It was so competitive; those guys were throwing the kitchen sink at us. We were able to absorb their best blow and were able to get it done at the end."
(on the importance of tonight's game) "We knew the importance of tonight's game, and we found a way to go out there and get it done. We have to go out there and continue to play hard and get victories."
(on the Ravens' pass defense) "It was tough. The receivers uncovered so fast. I've never seen a group like that before. We were in great position on one play, and then all of a sudden, they were open. You just have to keep your eye on your guy, stay with him, and you can't get nosey and start looking in the back field."
(on his injury in the 4th quarter) "I just fell on my hip. I made a break on the ball and then I came down on my hip. It's not a big deal, I should be alright."
(on Jacoby Jones' kickoff return) "I thought Jacoby was gone. It's not too many times you see Jacoby get caught from behind. It was a great special teams play. We found a way to go out there and make a play. Hopefully, we will continue to do that."* *
WR Torrey Smith
(on his 54-yard reception in the first quarter) "I thought it was a touchdown, but I didn't see the replay. It looked like the referee signaled touchdown. But the other one spotted it on the one. So I don't know."
(on his next catch for the touchdown) "I was one-on-one, and we ran an inside slant out. It took some time to develop, but it came wide open."
(on the win) "It was awesome. It's great to win at home, especially on the holiday in front of our fans. A win is a win, even if it was a little more dramatic than it had to be. I think I'm responsible for not making a couple of plays that would have put up points for us. It's very frustrating right now. But the most important thing is that we won."
(on the quick turnaround of play on Thursday) "I'm just looking forward to the next game. I'm ready to play already. I'm going to take some time this weekend to get some rest and be ready to go."
(on Steelers CB Ike Taylor) "He's a great cornerback, I should have had a great day, but I didn't make enough plays. Anytime you get to go against a guy of his caliber and you do ok, it says something."
(on Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin obstructing Jacoby Jones) "He did it on purpose." Reporter: Should it be a fine? "I don't know, they fine people for doing anything now. He was watching it on the screen, and it was pretty funny to see him smiling about it afterwards. I don't know if he did it on purpose. But it definitely threw Jacoby off and cost us some points."
(on Ike Taylor talking trash) "He was talking a lot. I thought we had grown past that. Last game there was nothing said. This week it was back to normal. It's fun to play against him; he's a great player."
(on his celebration after his first touchdown) "I thought I scored the first time, so the second time I was mad, and I spiked the ball."
(on the Ravens offense being frustrated) "I blame myself. I don't look at Joe [Flacco], I don't look at our defense, I look at myself. I needed to make some more plays. And they were there; I need to make them regardless of the down or what the situation is. I have to make more plays for our team. We need touchdowns, not field goals. I'm just glad we got the win."
(on what this win means) "It just means that we're in the hunt. Obviously, if we would have lost, we would have been out of it, and playing a bunch of meaningless games. But now it's just like the playoffs. We win and we continue to give ourselves a chance."
(on having extra rest for the Minnesota Vikings game) "It's definitely going to be huge. Guys are definitely banged up a little bit. We need to get healthy. Its huge especially this time of year to have a few days off."* *
RB Ray Rice
(on the win tonight) "This puts us back in the picture and it never gets old. These rivalry games, you see how it is. This was a hard-hitting game on both sides of the ball, and we're just happy to come away with the win. It was a short turnaround, and it was all heart. Thanks to coach [John Harbaugh] for taking care of us this week. Everyone had a step on them and it was good."
(on the way the game ended) "That's Pittsburgh. Ever since I've been in the league, every game we played against them has been three points or less it seems. They're a resilient bunch. We knew they were going to make a run and our defense made a stop at the end. One thing we kept saying was, when we got down in the red zone, we wanted to score touchdowns instead of three [points], but with a kicker like that, it makes a big difference."
(on his key third-down catch) "That was a great call. I mean, when I get out in the flat I get excited. I had a chance to get out there and Marlon [Brown] made a great block that allowed me to churn up a few more yards and get us field position. That was huge. Those are the plays that may not show up on the stat sheet, but they help you win games. To make a difference in the game, that's what I was trying to do, being a leader. Trying to stay positive. It may not always look good statistically, but the only thing that matters is we got the win."
(on the team winning two in a row) "I said it last year, the team that gets hot right about now is a team that gets a chance. Right now it's looking good for us, but we have to continue to take care of business. No knock on any other, but the Ravens have to take care of the Ravens. If we do that, we should be alright."
(on playing Thanksgiving night) "We sure put on a show tonight. First off, we want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I sure hope their running back [Le'Veon Bell] is ok, but it's great to win on Thanksgiving. The whole world was watching. For those who fell asleep, they will figure it out tomorrow. And for those who continued watching in the AFC North, the Ravens are back."
CB Chykie Brown
(on being the next man up) "That's the way my career has been and I take it to heart. I'm always the guy that's a play away from being in for the guy. I'm always ready and I always tell coach [John Harbaugh] any time you need me and my number is called, I'm ready. And it showed tonight."
(on defending the two-point conversion) "I knew they were coming after the guy that was fresh off the bench. This was the last play that was going to win the game, and I knew they were coming my way. I knew that I was on an island with him [Emmanuel Sanders]. He's a really good receiver, but I had to make the play to win the game."
(on his technique) "I wasn't going to let him [Emmanuel Sanders] be successful. I was going to take away his inside, play really hard on the inside and make him [Ben Roethlisberger] throw it up top. I had a feeling by the way he was looking at Sanders that he was going to throw back shoulder, so I played patient. I didn't go for the shake and I tried to get between him and the ball."
(on being tested with the game on the line) "When they put the game on your shoulder, it's special. It was important to me because I messed up when I first came into the game. I made a mistake, and I came inside and let him [Antonio Brown] get outside, so I needed to make up for that."
DT Arthur Jones
(on the last few plays at the goal line) "We all just got together and said, 'One more play, one more play.' It kind of reminded us of the Super Bowl. We're going to ride this thing out and keep fighting."
(on the momentum of the Ravens) "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're going to enjoy these next couple days off and then get back to work. We've got a tough running back in Adrian Peterson coming in next week and we have to get prepared for that. We'll enjoy our time off, come back and watch film. I'm proud of how our team fought tonight. Tonight was a team victory, from the coaching staff all the way down. Offensive line, defensive line, it was a fgreat team win."
S James Ihedigbo
(on the atmosphere out there tonight) "The crowd was in it from the start of the game, and we just thrived off it, defensively, offensively – Joe [Flacco] played lights out. Our offense did what they were supposed to do, and Ben Roethlisberger on the other hand, he had a great game as well. It came down to the end there, and I was telling the secondary, 'It's going to come down to us to make a play in this game for us to win.' It's one of those things, [where] we have to make a play, and we came up at the end and we did that. Chykie [Brown] made a heck of a play."
(on plaster rules applying when Ben Roethlisberger is in the ballgame) "Oh, of course; you have to plaster, because he can extend plays, he can make powerful throws. He did there, and Chykie [Brown] had great defense on the guy, [and] he lost sight of the ball and dropped it."
(on needing to make the stop at the end) "It's funny, when you're down there, it felt like they had 16 plays from the one-yard line. Just such resilience – defensively such resilience – and I'm just proud of the guys, real proud."
OLB Terrell Suggs
(on if he got a little nervous on the last drive) "Absolutely not. Whether they scored the two point [conversion] or not, we still have faith in Joe [Flacco]. Our offense was clicking all night, so we just played the down out. We had some phenomenal goal line stops, but Ben [Roethlisberger] made a play, you can see that he made a play, so you've got to give him credit for that. But we came through and got them stopped."
(on what was working so well defensively to slow Pittsburgh's offense down) "Nothing, we just played. You've got to go out there, and at the end of the day it's football and you just play. We weren't really too much worried about the scheme or what they were doing, you just have to play, and read and reaction."
(on if this is the game that finally gets it going for Baltimore) "We don't know. The Number One thing with us is consistency [and] we've gotten two [wins] in a row. We've got another one next week against arguably the best [running] back in the league, so we're going to enjoy these couple of days we've got, get healthy and get ready for Minnesota."
(on if it's a little sweeter when you beat the Steelers) "It's always sweeter when you beat the Steelers. You beat your division rival in a nail-biter, a physical game, and it's always sweeter."
(on the defense's resiliency at the end of the game) "Just never flinch. Never flinch. They're a good team, they know us just like we know them, and we knew they were going to make some plays. It's just the thing was we had to respond; we never got down on ourselves when they did make the plays. It all comes down to the last play, and we got it stopped."
