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Transcripts: Bengals Postgame Quotes (Nov. 27)

Head Coach Marvin Lewis

(opening statement) "I'm disappointed for our guys. They fought their tails off in a football game where, for some reason, we allowed the first score. Then, we get the field position, play-in, and end up with a field goal and 10 points. We fought back in the football game and had opportunities. We got the turnover defensively and then end up with a mistake on the snap and not being able to field it. That's a huge error in the football game to not get points. But, again, I thought we settled down and moved the ball when we needed to. Not consistent enough. The third downs in the first half, particularly, were a huge difference. Their drives they scored on, they converted two third downs – one on each drive. And that was the biggest difference in the first touchdown drive and later when they got the long field goal. As I told our guys, 'Now, we need help.' We've been able to control it ourselves. Now, we need some help. But it's not done, but now we need some help. We obviously have to do our end now, and that's to win the last five ball games, if we have any chance to go to the playoffs. And that's still in sight, but we need help now – no question."

(on whether there is frustration on seeing the same stuff) "Well, it is what it is."

(on the pressure on Andy [Dalton]) "We got a couple of balls tipped back at us, and we tipped a couple of balls on the other side. That seemed to be a little bit of the flavor. Some of it was the design where the play was going – the release point. So, we'll look at it and see what the issue was. We don't want to have a fumble there at the end. He's moved up in the pocket, and they were just able to get a hand on the ball. That wasn't necessarily as much pressure as him stepping up in the pocket to make the throw. And he [Elvis Dumervil] was able to get a hand on it and knock it loose from him.

(on missing some players) "That's got nothing to do with today. Today was this group, this football team, and we failed to get it done."

(on the Bengals' defense) "We had a couple of new guys in there. With Josh [Shaw] and Clayton [Fejedelem], it's on the tape, but they seemed to handle the situation very well today."

(on whether he can point at what is causing the missed extra points across the league) "No, I don't, but we don't want to miss extra points."

(on Andy's [Dalton] performance) "Again, it's hard for me to see. He moved in the pocket, he made some throws, he got out of the pocket, and he ran for a first down. Those are good things. He just has to keep playing. He didn't put the ball. . . other than the throw where he kind of got grabbed on the route and wasn't  able to get to the ball, where they had the opportunity for an interception. I think that's a positive. You've got to keep playing. He can't at all get pressing and throw the ball where it doesn't belong. And I thought he did a good job of that today."

(on his decision making on the [Justin] Tucker 57-yard kick) "Yes, I'm going to make him try it from 57 yards. Obviously, you can answer that question."

(on Tucker not missing all year) "Well, so my point is, it's still a 57-yard kick that barely gets across."

* *

QB Andy Dalton

(on missing some weapons from the offense) "It's like they say, 'Next man up.' Of course, we would have loved to have had those guys out there, but we played hard and had some chances to win."

(on the decisive sack and fumble) "He [Elvis Dumervil] got around the edge. I tried to step up, but he reached out and knocked the ball out of my hand. That was really a disappointing way for the game to end for us."

(on the offense's performance) "I thought we moved the ball really well, especially in the fourth quarter. On one drive, we even picked up a big fourth down. This was a typical Bengals game against Baltimore. It always seems to come down to the final minutes, and both teams have a chance to win. We have to find a way to win one game. That's all. That's our goal now."

(on all the passes that the Ravens knocked down at the line of scrimmage) "They did a great job tipping passes at the line of scrimmage, especially toward the end. They probably weren't rushing very hard so they put their hands up, and it worked."

(on what it's like to be playing against a kicker like Justin Tucker) "He's a really good kicker. Everyone knows it. And he made some long ones today. He did a really good job for them."

(on where the Bengals go from here) "Our entire goal now is to win this week's game. Good teams find a way to make things happen, and we have to find a way to do that."

* *

HB Jeremy Hill

(on the level of frustration while losing another close game) "It's never frustrating. We are out there battling our guts off on every play. We just need to cut down on our mistakes and convert when we reach the red zone."

(on the Bengals' performance against the number one rushing defense in the NFL) "We know how to do our jobs. We just need to execute better – especially in the running game. We've been working hard all year, and we will keep working hard. We have to stop settling for field goals when we get in to the red zone."

(on how the Bengals handled the loss of Giovani Bernard) "'Gio' is a very big part of what we do, but we still have to go forward. Rex [Burkhead] did a really good job for us today."

* *

WR James Wright

(on the offense's play) "We were trying to get something rolling [early]. We'd make a few good plays, but not finish the drive. We just have to get down to the red zone and capitalize. I had a hand in that, too. We just have to do better as a group, keep the drive alive, and score touchdowns."

(on their first full game without WR A.J. Green) "That's why each and every one of us is in the NFL, to make plays. Somebody goes down, and the next man's up. We all have talent. We just have to put it together and come together as a group to make plays."

(on the approach to the final five games) "Keep our heads down and keep playing hard to win the next one."

LB Rey Maualuga

(on the defense's play) "We'll have some things to fix during the week. We knew that they are a good offense, and we had to come in and stop them early. Obviously, they drove down the field on the first possession and scored. But, for the most part, hats off to their kicker. He was kicking 50-plus-yard field goals. He did a good job at that. We held their offense out of the end zone in the second half. We're just trying to find more sparks and more turnovers, but I thought we did a good job. The scoreboard didn't end in our favor."

(on his interception) "I happened to be at the right place at the right time. It fell in my hands. There wasn't much I could do with it, but we got off the field. All we can do is put it in our offense's hands to score some points of off it. Obviously, they [Raven's defense] got that fumble and got the ball back themselves."

(on the play of the front seven) "Coach challenges our front seven, especially our front four. Those guys work so hard day in and day out to get in that back field. When they do that, it causes the quarterback to throw the ball up in the air or out of bounds. They came to play, but, obviously, it's overshadowed by the loss because we didn't win it."

(on Justin Tucker) "Certain kickers can't do what he does. Sometimes, when it's a 40-plus-yard field goal, teams end up just punting the ball. You do a good job on defense and the ball is left in his hands. It's more like an automatic three."

CB Adam Jones

(on holding the Ravens out of the end zone after the first drive) "We had a hell of a game plan for us coming in. We just have to stick to the script. Be true to ourselves. Be true to your teammates. Work hard. Keep our heads down. It is what it is."

(on wanting to return the end-of-game punt that wasn't made) "I wanted it. I let [special teams coordinator] Darrin [Simmons] know that I wanted it. I haven't had the opportunities this year. Anytime the game is on the line, I need the ball back there. Period. Point blank."

TE Tyler Eifert(on the approach coming into the game with a couple injuries) "Not a whole lot was different going into the game plan. We have guys who stepped in; we just have to make more plays. We gave ourselves a chance to win there at the end. The defense played great. Now, we just needed to find a way to get the ball into the end zone there at the end."

(on where the team is now after the loss) "We're not happy. We're not going to get down or feel sorry for ourselves or blame each other, point fingers. We're going to keep working hard and hope to get a little bit of help here down the stretch and win the rest of our games."

(on the red zone turnovers) "Obviously turnovers we try to avoid, especially in the red zone. Everybody had their turn making bad plays and not making the play when we needed it. Everybody has a hand in it. We're going to keep moving forward and get ready for next week."

(on the offense's ability to move the ball at the end of the game) "It kind of felt like our old selves a bit. Obviously, they were trying not to give up the big play, but it felt good to move the ball. We've got to try to find that rhythm earlier in the game, as well as find ways to win these close ones."

(on his touchdown catch) "It was kind of a scramble drill. I just kept running toward the sideline. Andy [Dalton] got out of the pocket and threw a perfect pass."

* *

HB Rex Burkhead

(on the turnovers in the red zone) "That's our number one priority every game, to take care of the ball. Unfortunately, we didn't do that today. Baltimore is a great team. Give credit to them. We just have to find ways to finish."

(on being patient and finally getting some playing time) "It felt good to get out there, to get your hand on some balls and get some touches. I feel like I could have played better, of course. I'm never satisfied. I always look for ways to improve, but my number one priority is to get a win for this team, and we didn't do that today."

(on being a big part of the offense) "It was fun. I haven't had that many opportunities in my career, so finally I got some chances, and it felt good. I got into the rhythm. I was comfortable in the run game. I just went out there and tried to do my best."

(on coming up short at the end) "It's a big-time division game. We knew coming in here we needed one; we just didn't finish. We didn't finish drives in the first half. We had something going there in the final drive in the fourth quarter, but we didn't finish it off. We're disappointed, but we're going to keep fighting. That's what this team is made of – high character guys who are going to keep fighting."

DE Carlos Dunlap

(on the defense's play) "I think the Bengals lost the football game. I didn't make a game-changing play, but we've got a lot of issues. We're not playing good enough to win. We all wear the same logo."

(on the offense's injuries) "That's a big part of it, but we had some issues before that. We're not playing good enough to win, and we have to fix it. We still didn't take care of business."

(on what needs to change) "It's just everybody stepping up and making more plays, because, if we don't fix it, we'll be home in January again. We're not making things happen. Last year, we made a lot of things happen, and that's what we're missing this year collectively - from everybody that's wearing a Bengals uniform. There's a very thin line, and right now, we're not getting close enough to that line, so we're losing. This is a losing streak, but we have five games left. We have to play [the Ravens] again. They have to play some of the guys that we lost to, so there are positives there, but we have to fix ourselves before we can start worrying about someone else."

(on limiting the Ravens to field goals after the first drive) "We made our adjustments, and we did what we had to do, but they have an amazing kicker. I've never seen something like that. We hold them to the 40 [yard line], and they're in field goal range? That's real. Three points is a positive for a defense, keeping them out of the end zone, but we've got to make plays to win the game. We stopped the bleeding, but didn't make them bleed."

* *

CB Dre Kirkpatrick

(on the defense) "We have to figure out what they're doing early and just go out there and play our game. We still played pretty good, but we didn't get the win."

(on the consistency of the defense) "Exactly. Consistency. We should have had this game. We've got to get over that hump, especially at the beginning of the game. We can't allow teams to go down there and drive the ball on us. It's unacceptable."

(on the injuries and if the defense felt more pressure) "We didn't have to make up anything. We knew we had to help carry the load, because A.J. [Green] is one of the greats, so that was a big dent in the scheme of what we like to do."

(on stopping the offense and seeing 50-yard field goals) "At the end of the day, we've got to bite down. It does get frustrating, but at the end of the day, this is a team sport. We shouldn't single anybody out and come together as a unit, but I tip my hat to the Ravens. They were a better team today. They went and got the job done, but I feel like we still should have won this game."

(on taking away the long ball) "He just didn't throw the deep ball. A couple times the deep ball was there, but he didn't throw it. You have to give credit to Adam [Jones] on the outside and our safeties."

(on the losing streak) "To me, it starts to wear on you. I'm a winner. I've never been in this position, but, at the end of the day, when you're a competitor, you keep competing, especially when your back's against the wall. You always find a way to get out of it. We still have a great opportunity in front of us."

(on the battle with Steve Smith) "'89' said I was trash. If I'm trash, what did he do today? [Expletive], clean that up. Who was trash today? He said what he had to say last year. I just wanted to let him know, am I trash now? '89' looked to trash me, but he didn't do anything."

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