We didn't play well enough to win. We didn't execute the way we've been executing. We gave up big plays. We didn't make as many big plays. We hung in there. We gave it a good effort at the end, but it was too little too late. Once again, the interceptions hurt us right at the end. We thought we had the ball in the endzone with a chance to be within six with lots of time left - seven minutes left - but that was called back by a holding penalty. We missed a short fourth and one that obviously would have kept the ball in our hands. We just didn't play well enough to win.
Q: That interception in the first half - what happened?
A: (Nicks) stopped to run the slant. You can't do that. You have to continue to run the route, run through the defenders, do whatever you have to do. Unfortunately...that's a basic principal. If you've got the slant called, you've got to run the slant.
Q: Are you surprised that your pass rush wasn't as effective? Did they do anything differently?
A: They did a lot differently. They did a lot. Give them credit. They did a good job of isolating, of getting the one on ones they look for, of keeping the quarterback out of the middle of the field so that the errant throws weren't a part of their plan. They were minus seven in turnovers in the last two games with 42 points off of turnovers. You can see that that was their number one objective, to stay away from turnovers. They loaded up some formations on us and blocked it up and then threw the ball and had some success doing that as well, so they did have a little bit different of a plan and they did a nice job of staying away from the turnovers.
Q: What about the secondary? They gave up a few 40-plus-yard plays.
A: They did. We haven't been doing that. The quarterback seemed to have time to throw and they made some big plays down the field on us.
Q: Did you see the hold on Kevin Boothe?
A: I didn't see it because my eyes were going with the quarterback down the field.
Q: What report did you get from him about it?
A: I didn't really talk to Kevin. Maybe I'll have a chance when I go inside, but there's no excuse. There really isn't. It would have been nice to have that touchdown and have a chance with that much time to kickoff and play defense and maybe get the ball back. We were down there a number of times and it really was the first time in a long time where we've been slowed down in that area and really what they did was they looked like they were playing all zone coverage.
Q: Is it hard to sustain a winning streak like that in this league?
A: Well, I was hoping that wasn't going to be the case with us. We were at home and we thought that we were in good position and we knew where their strengths were, what they would try to do. We knew that Bryant would be featured in a number of ways. We weren't able to do a whole lot about it.
Q: Did you have any reservations about continuing to play when the lights weren't all the way on yet?
A: Well, the second time that Bill came over to discuss that, at that point in time it was up to us and Jason had mentioned that he thought it was light enough to play and I had some reservations and I didn't think that it was, but before play could be resumed, the league came and said we had to have better lighting than this.
Q: Were you upset with the defense? It looked like you were having an animated conversation on the sideline at one point.
A: I was upset with the...I wasn't pleased with what was going on. The plays up the field weren't something - that is exactly what we were trying not to do. We were talking about it and it doesn't matter whether it was animated or not. It had nothing to do with what was going on. I was trying to figure out what happened.
Q: The league said you needed better light and then what happened?
A: The lights came on.
Q: At what point would they have sent you home?
A: I have no idea. You'd have to check with the official on that one.
Q: Did you sense this coming in the week? Like maybe practice wasn't as good as it could have been?
A: I didn't plan on going into this. I didn't think Wednesday was as good as it should have been. It picked up a little bit after Wednesday and I thought we had a good frame of mind and I don't think we played with the effectiveness that we wanted.
Q: Did you sense that Dallas was rallying around their coaching change?
A: I don't know. I just think that they're a talented team that played well and didn't turn it over. They turned it over one time and they've been turning it over four times a game.
Q: Did Ramses Barden's injury hurt you?
A: It impacted everybody. It impacted three receivers, it impacted four. That's part of the game. We went in knowing that usually Ramses is four, then he became three and I didn't expect that anything would take place without him in there.
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