Dallas coach Wade Phillips, post-game, 12.06.09

Opening Statement:  Tough loss for us obviously.  We gave up big plays that we don’t normally give up and that really hurt us.  We threw the ball extremely well I thought, but we didn’t convert enough times to have success.  I thought Tony played well.  Our defense one play gave up a 74-yarder when we were in zone defense.  We haven’t given up anything the whole year (in that defense) and somehow they got a big play on it.  They didn’t complete that many passes but the ones they did were big plays for them. Right before the half was a big turning point when we were up 10-0.  We made some mistakes in our coverages, which was really surprising because we hadn’t been doing those things.  Then they got the turnover right before the half, which really changed the game.  We fought back.  We kept fighting until the end like I knew we would. We just have to go forward.

Question:  In your mind what was the difference in the loss today?

Response:  I just went through it.  We gave up big plays that we don’t normally give up. We had a special teams play where we had the guy tackled.  We had a running play where the guy was stopped in the backfield and he made 29 yards on that.  Those were the only runs that they made the whole game really. Then they throw it in the flat to a guy who runs 74 yards for a touchdown. Those are big plays that hurt us. 

Q:  What did you tell your team after this game?

RE:  We’ve got to keep fighting. There’s no doubt about that.  We are going to play at home next week and we have to look forward to the next one. You can’t dwell on the last one.  It’s just like every play; you can’t dwell on the last play.  You’ve got to go to the next one. This was a tough loss for us but we can bounce back from it.

Q:  Talk about Jason Witten.

RE:  Jason played really well again. I don’t know how many he caught but he caught a bunch of passes.  He’s a threat out there. I felt like during the game we could throw the ball on them and we did a good job of that but it just wasn’t enough. Because of different reasons: defensively and on special teams.

Q:  What happened on the Folk field goal?

RE:  I think we dropped the snap. (The snap wasn’t dropped). OK that was what I was told, that he bobbled the hold.

Q:  Would you entertain making a change to Buehler?

RE:  No.  I don’t know what happened then obviously so we’ll have to see.

Q:  But to miss it that badly does that surprise you?

RE:  Yeah, I couldn’t tell what happened, if it was blocked.  I was told that the hold was bobbled.  I don’t know for sure until we see it.

Q:  Can you talk about your defense today?

RE:  Yeah, big plays hurt us and we know that.

Q:  What did you think of your team coming out today?

RE:  We went down the field on them pretty early.  I thought we were playing really well.  We were up 10-0 at their place.  So I thought they were ready to play.

Q:  What did you tell them after the game?

RE:  It’s just one game and we’ve got to do something about the next game.  That’s where we are. 

Q:  What do you think was the problem with the running game today?

RE:  Well, they played the run real well, but we thought we could throw it. They put enough people up there that it was hard to run the football.  We’ve had several games like this where the running game wasn’t there because they had a lot of people up there and you need to be able to throw it.  And I thought we did it.  We just didn’t do it well enough to outscore them.

Q:  This is twice your team has lost to a team with their backs against the wall.  Are you disappointed your team didn’t respond in those two challenges in Green Bay and here?

RE:  Well, we played two good teams on the road and they beat us. That’s what happened.

Q:  The Jacobs touchdown.  Do you know what happened there?

RE:  Like I said, we were in a zone defense and that shouldn’t happen to us.  It comes down to me. We wanted to jam the tight end more because we knew they were going to run him deep and they’ve done that to us previously or tried to. But we should have more people seeing the ball and I think the other guy cut off our backer that was trying to get to the ball.

Q:  Do you address the team’s play in December with them now?

RE:  We address the next game, who we’re playing and try to do our best to win the ball game.  I don’t think it’s a mental block.  I think it’s something you made up.  You said something about Tony hadn’t lost a game in November.  Well, we lost one in November.  We’ll see what happens with this football team and that’s what we’ve got to do.  We can change whatever and we’re going to come out next week and try to do that.

Q:  Nobody made up the December record.  It goes back long before you.  It’s just happened.

RE:  That’s what I’m saying, but it’s something that you can do it with all kinds of stats. The final season record is what’s most important every year. 

Q:  But playing well down the stretch is also important.

RE:  Yeah, except the Cardinals went all the way last year winning only one game in December and the Giants went all the way the year before winning two games in December.  I’m just saying we’re playing games.  We’re playing tough teams.  We played a tough team on the road and they ended up beating us whatever date this is.  We’ve got another game next week and we’re going to try to win that ball game.

Q:  Is it any harder to bring your team back next week?

RE:  This team has bounced back every time.  I don’t know what our record is after a loss, but it’s pretty good.  I expect them to come back strong next week playing at home and we’re looking forward to that one.