Head Coach John Harbaugh
(opening statement)
"Just a gutsy effort – faith and guts. It kind of goes to your point about the question you had in terms of being frustrated or discouraged or whatever. I think our guys kept faith and fought right to the end."
"Joe stepped up at halftime when he talked to the team, briefly, but he just made a point, kept it simple and said, 'Let's just go win a game.' That kind of summed it all up for us. Let's go do what we have to do to win a football game. "
(on achieving playoff success over the past seven seasons)
"It's like Joe [Flacco] says, it's not the way you're thinking right now. This is a new team, this is a different set of guys. You walk in that locker room, and you see the faces, and you hug those big guys, and you say congratulations on making the playoffs, especially in this division, especially in this conference, the way that things have gone this year. You're just happy for them, for this team, for this group of guys. Not the guys seven years ago, for these guys."
(on how dangerous this team can be as the AFC's No. 6 playoff seed)
"I think [we] can be very dangerous. We all know the history. It's a 0-0 tournament right now. We've been on the road plenty of times in the playoffs as a group. We're as dangerous as anybody else, at least. So, I'm excited to be coaching the Ravens in the playoffs, I can tell you that."
QB Joe Flacco
(on how the big passes to Torrey Smith changed things)
"Yeah, give a lot of credit to Torrey. It was funny. A couple times, they rolled to him with the safety over the top and a couple times, they played the safety underneath and played the corner like he was the safety. So they were trying to roll to him in some way, and that's what they did there, and he was able to run by the guy and make a play that's huge. We had a chance earlier in the game; I think [cornerback] Joe [Haden] made a pretty good play on the ball. That definitely broke it open, those two plays right there, and you've got to give a lot of credit to him."
(on the emotion of making the playoffs after a tough season)
"It feels good. I remember sitting at home last year, a week from now, and it didn't feel very good. So, that at least won't be happening this year, and it feels very good."
(on the emotions of playing from behind and watching the scoreboard)
"It's definitely different, but you have to just go out there and play a football game. Today, it was just struggle, struggle, struggle. That's our job, to stay one way and have faith and have belief in everybody that we're going to go out there and get the job done, and that's what we were able to do. We played the full 60 minutes, and that's what won us the game."
(on what clicked for him in the final minutes and his thoughts when seeing the Chiefs were winning)
"The only thing I was thinking was man, they're winning, They're going to win the game. All we've got to do is score a couple of points and we're going to be in. [The Browns cornerbacks] were playing pretty tight up in there. They were giving us a chance to get over top of them, and we were able to do it. I think that's what made the difference there at the end was Torrey just stepping up and getting by guys and making [catches]."
(on if the success he had in the fourth quarter is a big moment and if it defines a QB)
"I have no idea. If we go win the Super Bowl, I guess it will be. The goal is not to make the playoffs. That's the first part. That has to happen in order to achieve your goal. That's really not the goal. I've been here through plenty of wins in the playoffs and then losses in the AFC championship game, losses in the division round and believe me, people aren't any happier just because you made the playoffs. It's not a good feeling, so like I said, I think if we go do what we're capable of doing then a game like this will mean something."
OLB Terrell Suggs
(on the feeling of getting into the playoffs)
"It's awesome. It feels awesome. We haven't taken it all in yet. We really stuck together in there today. They played a hell of a football game. You know, Cleveland, they always fight us. They always play us tough. They fought us to the very last play. But we're in, baby."
(on the second half and what that was like)
"Going into the playoffs, basically down the stretch in December, you've got to find a way to win, and we did that. We didn't play perfect, but we stuck together. Defense, we didn't make all the plays, we just made the necessary ones, and we kept giving our offense opportunities and five [Flacco), he started playing like five in the second half."
(on if he paid attention to the KC-SD score)
"[Hell], yeah. Yeah, we'd been paying attention, and it was just like, we've got to handle our business – and we did so."
(on the injury to DT Timmy Jernigan and the return of DT Haloti Ngata)
"We get the big guy back. It's very unfortunate about young Timmy Jernigan, but he's young. Those kids heal amazing. He's going to heal, and we're going to get him back when we get him back. But it's great to get my brother back, to [get] one of the leaders of this team back. That's huge for us."
WR Torrey Smith
(on his 53-yard catch being a play he's been waiting to make)"Yes. I missed out on one earlier, and, as always, I was trying to be greedy. I felt like I was wide open, and rather than stopping and going back to get it and making a play, I just tried to sit there and slow it down. I couldn't really judge it because it was coming to this side. But I was like, 'Man, if I get a second chance, I don't care what it is – I'm stopping [and] I'm squaring up regardless of what happens.' Even if I misjudge it and it drifts past me, I had my mind made up for sure I was going to stop and go back. And that's what happened."
(on the Ravens' mood knowing the Chiefs were winning late in the game)"We obviously started slow as ever, but you watch, like, 'We have a real opportunity here. We're wasting it right now.' But we got back on track and made a couple big plays and got [the win]."
(on how much of a relief it is to make the playoffs)
"We're in the playoffs, man. Sitting home last year was miserable. All you can really ask for is an opportunity, and that's what we have. It's all about what we do with it from here, and we stand as good a chance as anyone else, regardless what anyone thinks."
(on if he has a sense of why it took so long for the offense to get going)
"If I knew, I swear it wouldn't happen. (laughter) It's like a theme, [and] we have to break it."
(on if he was starting to get discouraged at any point)
"Definitely frustrated, because it was like, 'Man, here we go again.' The bad part about it is that was like, 'We know what we're supposed to be doing, we know we have to fix this. We have to execute.' And then it's like, 'Man.' The good thing is we've been there a thousand times, so we don't really panic. We need to start fast [against] whoever we play next week."
RB Justin Forsett
(on the offensive line reshuffle)
"I think we had 100 yards today, and they were huge. They did a great job, and this is what you play for. Trying to make the playoffs, I've been in this league for seven years, and I've only made it twice. So, I know it doesn't come around as much as you'd like. So, we just have to seize the moment, take nothing for granted and enjoy it."
OLB Pernell McPhee
(on the loss of DT Timmy Jernigan)
"We have talented guys here, guys that can play multiple positions. And that's exactly what we did. Me and Lawrence Guy and DeAngelo Tyson, we know we had to step up and do whatever we needed to do, whatever position we needed to play."
(on making the playoffs)
"We're right where we need to be. The secondary is playing great, Joe [Flacco] is throwing it great, Torrey [Smith] and Steve [Smith Sr.] are catching it great and we're running the ball. I remember the Super Bowl season and how it felt to just be a part of that. I'm going to do whatever I can do to get us back there again."
TE Owen Daniels
(on his emotions)
"[That was] just a crazy finish to a crazy season. But now we've got more and that's great. I'm not really good with emotions when it comes to football, but you obviously go through a lot in a situation like this. Emotions do run through you, but ultimately, you can only do what's in front of you and take care of your business. We started slowly, but we did that today."
WR Steve Smith Sr.
(on getting it done in the fourth quarter)
"We said at halftime in the locker room that it fell on the offense. There are some things that we didn't do very well in the beginning of the game, and also last week. So we had to play much better. In the fourth quarter there are no do-overs. The fourth quarter can make everything right. All the things you've done poorly don't matter. At the end of the fourth quarter, you have to make more plays and erase everything that had gone on, and that's what we did."
(on why they were successful in the fourth quarter)
"I think it really just goes to our coaching staff. Coach [Gary] Kubiak did a great job. He was doing some plays and we weren't making them. In the fourth quarter we just executed. Torrey had some great passes that he caught against a Pro Bowl corner. That's just what we needed."
(on the playoffs)
"[It's a] great opportunity. Everything that happened in the regular season has nothing to do with what is going on. You could beat a team by a hundred points in the regular season and then get in the playoffs and it could go a hundred different ways."
(on all the adversity the Ravens have faced)
"It sounds like a pretty good Hollywood story. We have a lot of guys, next man up, and these guys are chomping at the bit to be the guy – that's the next guy up."
G/T Marshal Yanda
(on RB Justin Forsett's big runs in the fourth quarter)
"After we hit those couple of big passes, the running plays came behind it. It was a lot of offense in that fourth quarter. It was nice to end on a high note. Now we just need to build on that in the playoffs. We're all ready to roll."
(on changing from guard to tackle)
"I'll sum it up for you: you just have to get it done."
CB Lardarius Webb
(on getting the team focused for the playoffs now)
"I don't think it's going to be hard to get everybody to focus. I think a lot of guys are going to be happy that you kind of look at the season and kind of be like, 'OK, all the bad things I did, all the mess-ups I did, I can let that go. It's a new season, it's a new me.' So, we're just going to look at it like that. We've got a whole new start, and our goals and dreams are still alive."
(on what his interception meant to him personally)
"I just saw the ball. It was one of the first times I could actually have a ball that I could make a play on. I was me – I just made the play, just caught it actually. It was nice to get it. It'd been a long year – I missed the first five games – and just to finally get that interception, man, that was big. It's going to help out a lot going into the playoffs."
(on if it feels like his season has come full circle now)
"I just know I've been playing better since I've been feeling good. And when I'm feeling good, I make plays like that. So, I'm just going to keep on playing."
