Denver Broncos vs. December 17, 2006 POSTGAME QUOTES

Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan

Opening Statement: "It's nice to get back in the winning column that's for sure. I was really please with our football team and the effort they put in today. Offense was zero for three in the first half in the red zone, yet we found a way to come back with poise anad composure and found a way to get three for three in the second half. I was proud that we had a little diversity in the first half even though we moved the football we couldn't score. So it was nice to come back and punch the endzone a few times. Special teams obviously, Quincy Morgan did a great job with a couple of returns and great field position. That's something we aren't used to. It's nice to step up there. Defense, I thought we really fought. This football team has done a great job scoring points and moving the football. Finding a way to not only win but get the ball in the endzone and for our defense to step up and play the way they did I was really impressed."

On Jay Cutler's progression: "I don't think we need to talk about this each week. He is gonna grow and learn. I think you can see it just like I can there is a lot of confidence out there today. He showed a lot of poise and threw a couple of big time throws and he managed the game really well."

On Jay Cutler and the learning curve: "He wouldn't be our starting quarterback if I thought that he had to make those kind of decisions.There is a learning curve and just like every quarterback you have to go through some ups and downs but you saw what he could do today. It doesn't take a genious out there to figure out that this guy is very composed, makes all his throws and plays with a lot of confidence."

Whether Jay Cutler allows for a more open playbook: "I'm not going to get into that. I just know that this guy has a big time future with us. You can see what he can do and I don't compare it to game plans or other scenerios. I just like what he's doing. You can see as a young quarterback we are able to do a lot with him that you can't with a lot of rookies. You just digest it and understand it very quickly. There are going to be some growing pains but I'll enjoy those growing pains as we go along."

On the running game: "I thought we did a great job. We have been doing a pretty good job over the last couple of weeks at stopping the running game and it really kept us in check. It commited a lot of people to the run, which obviously opens up your passing game. We had a number of times where we had the opporrtunity to make big plays and they found a way to stop us. Which is a big credit to that defense and how hard they played and consistent they played for 60 minutes. Normally we can play poorly in the first half and all of a sudden we have a number of big plays in the second half, but they came to play."

On the decision to let Mike Bell play more minutes: "I'll be honest with you, I need to talk to Bobby Turner why that scenerio was. I'm not quite sure. Bobby is in charge of running backs and getting the feel on how they are playing, how tired they are and if the guy is hurt. I will have to talk to Bobby to find out for sure."

On whether Tatum Bell's fumble inpacted Mike Bell's playing time: "Like I said I'll have to talk to Bobby Turner."

On the momentum on the field: "We had a number of long drives today and in the first half we just couldn't get the ball into the endzone. We had the opportunity to just settle for field goals but sometimes that just comes back to huant you. In the second half we turned them into touchdowns. That's what good offenses do and we've been pretty average this year and it's nice to play better today."

On the defensive backs: "Pretty impressive. That's a great receiving core that they have and an excellent young quarterback that's going to have a great future. To have Darrent Williams go down and these guys step up and play as well as they played is impressive."

On Darrent Williams: "We had made the decision on Friday that he wasn't going to play just because he couldn't practice at the level that I thought could help us win. Most of the time when guys practice at that level they can't go for a whole game because it sets them back. So we will see."

On defensive secondary: "I thought we played very well. We had a guy go down, a nickel-and-dime package and we were very successful throwing the football. We had to win. We had to come in here and we knew if we didn't win this game we were out of the playoffs. It was a do or die situation for us and our guys came to play against a football team that has been playing very well."

Broncos Players

Broncos QB Jay Cutler On playing against Leinart: “It was the third start, we can’t get all wrapped up in who you are playing against or players on the opposite team. It’s just another game. Matt played well. We had things going offensively and defensively today.”

On the first TD Pass: “I had a lot of confidence coming into this game, I felt a lot more comfortable this week, being my third start. It’s just playing more football and getting comfortable under center. But once we hit that big one I think I got more confidence and we were off to the races.”

On HC Mike Shanahan: “He’s got a lot of confidence in me and I’ve had to earn that. As the game goes on he kind of sees how I’m doing and if I’m doing well then he’s going to let me do more and if I’m not he’s going to kind of shrink it down.”

On getting his first win: “I’m glad it’s out of the way; to get this one and keep us in the playoff hunt. These next two games we have to move on and keep working.”

On not giving up: “We have too much talent and too much character on this team for us to just give in these last three games coming into this. If we kept fighting and kept winning ballgames we would have a shot. The guys in there are ready to go; we’re going to give it our all these last two.”

On playing against Cardinals QB : “You want to go out and do well but it’s a team game and I knew I was going to put the team before myself any day. For us to get the win and me play as well as I did is an extra bonus.”

On his offensive line: “Today the offensive line played extremely well, I think we kept them off balance with our running game. Getting off to a fast start opens up a lot of doors for us.”

On the rookie QB Class: “We’re in a playoff race right now and I’m not really worried about that. Obviously Matt and Vince are playing better and better each week and that’s what I’m trying to do. I got a little bit of a late jump on it but I’m starting to play better and hopefully we can get in the playoffs.”

On the return game: “It’s huge. We have Quincy back there and he busted some big ones for us at a time when we really needed them. It gave us some field position right after they scored.”

On this being a do or die game: “If we lost this one we were in trouble for the playoffs, we knew that coming into the game.”

Broncos RB Mike Bell On scoring two TD’s: “It was definitely great coming home and to be able to do that was amazing.”

On local support: “There was a lot. Just being here I know a lot of people were just fans because I played high school and college and pop warner. You can’t ask for more support then that.”

On the win: “It was really important, the team needed it. We all knew we had three games left and we knew we needed all three, so this is a starting point and I think everybody’s confidence is high right now.”

Broncos CB Champ Bailey On being a must win game: “I don’t think the situations make that much of a difference. It’s all about our attitude in the locker room. We know what type of team we are and we have a lot of confidence and a lot of pride in this locker room. We just have to go out and execute what the coaches give us to do on Sunday.”

On the fast start: “I envisioned that happening on the sidelines and I was like ‘I just can’t drop it’. I knew I was going to see the ball. They threw it over there and I just picked it off.”

On the Cardinals: “You can’t judge them by the way we beat them today. They have a great group of guys. They are all young players, they have a young QB. They are just going to get better and better.”

On Cardinals QB Matt Leinart: “He’s a good quarterback. One thing about him is he knows what the defense is going to be. He’s still young; it’s going to take a while. He’ll pick up things a lot faster. I see him being like a Peyton Manning later in his career, the guy has that kind of ability.”

Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green

Opening Statement: "We'll come out an play hard against San Francisco. They think they can be a playoff team if they win and they're probably right. That's what Denver was today. Denver played like they thought 8-6 would get them in the playoffs.They might be right. They did not have a penalty. They had a couple turnovers but they played fairly well. We had some chances and didn't quite capitalize on them. I don't think we played well today. We did not play as well as we had in 6 of our 8 last home games. This game was more like Dallas than Seattle. It was more like it was today than it was against some of the other teams we played."

On the team injuries: "We have guys who are hobbling a lot. Darnell had a groin that made him hobble. Antonio had a hamstring that made him hobble. Everyone finished the game."

On playing from behind: "I think our defense caught up to them on a couple drives. They had some good drives and they didn't have any penalties to stop those drives. They started moving it and eventually we'd catch up to them and kick a field goal. They were using up time and we did not get a rythym going offensively at all. We didn't have the ball enough. I think they punted maybe two times. We just couldn't get it going."

On the beginning of the second half: "It was big because we had good play.They were going at us down the middle. We made a big play on an interception. We got chased out of one play on an audible. We came up short. Then we have a penalty and the field goal that we get, we don't get. I think that just added to it."

On offensive adjustments: "We just had to throw more. You like the combination of being able to run and play action and pass. We had to go to more of a straight, drop back passing game. They've got excellent safety play. Champ Bailey is able to do certain things on his side. We weren't able to capitaloze on the play action. We had to open it up more and when you do that you don't have the run thread."

On #74 G/T : "He did the best he could. The first question I had was if he was strong enough. He had been in the hospital a few days, but guys want to play. As we know, these are professional players. It doesn't matter if it's baseball or basketball and they've got a lot of pride and they want to play."

On the comparison of Cardinals QB Matt Leinart and Broncos QB Jay Cutler: "It's hard to say. We just weren't on our game offensively. We dropped some passes early, dropped some passes late. Matt got hit a few times. The pressure was a lot more out of their front four than it was last week against Seattle or Detroit."

On 's play: "He's dropped some passes. Everybody knows how to play catch. He knows how to play catch too. It's one of those things."

On Broncos QB Jay Cutler: "I thought he did a good job. He jumped out early. Some of the balls he bounced. He made some key throws. The big throw early was important. We did not do well on third down. He made some nice third down throws. They made some nice catches along with it but he had excellent conversions on third down."

Quarterback Matt Leinart

On if his play was affected by the the Matt Leinart vs. Jay Cutler talk: "It has nothing to do with that.That didn't cross my mind. I wasn't worried the Matt vs. Jay (Cutler) contest. It wasn't about that."

On struggles he's had with turnovers: "It was tough. You can't turn the ball over against a very good defense and the offense. That type of offense, they grind the clock, they grind the clock, that's what they're designed to do annd they made some big plays. But as an offense, we kept our defense on the field too long in the first half and that's something we can't do. That first drive after an interception, you can't do that. I thought we fought hard until the end, we fought hard and made some plays. We couldn't take advantage of opportunities and we haven't. That's about it."

On playing from behind in a 13-0 deficit: "Well obviously it helps when you start off fast but in this league, you're not going to start off every game up 7-0. It's not going to happen everytime. Guys are just too good. That really didn't have anything to do with it, we just couldn't get into a rythmn and we couldn't put enough points on the board."

On getting the ball to Anquan (Boldin) and : "I give a lot of credit to their defense, they played hard. They got a lot of great players on that side of the ball. For whatever reason, we just couldn't get them the ball. I thought Edgerrin (James) ran the ball good and the offensive line did great. They gave me a lot of time back there and enabled me to make some plays and move and stuff like that. It's just one of those games, just couldn't get things going. When we did, we were able to strike and get the ball moving, but we have to be more consistent."

On altering the gameplan during the course of the game: "We didn't alter it all. We came out and did what we wanted to do, did all of the plays we wanted to call. That's about it."

On getting a turnover first thing in the second half, but not getting any points: "It's tough when your defense gets a huge turnover. We had a little momentum going into the second half, down by six points at halftime, have a chance to go up or put some points on the board, we missed an opportunity. That's all it was. You can't do that."

On being accurate in throwing and playing against Champ Bailey: "Obviously he's a great player, I mean he is, but I wasn't intimidated by that fact. It's just he read me and in that play, I'm designed to go there but I can't throw that pass because he's too good of a player for me to make that play. That's on me. On the second one, I was trying to make a play, but that was one me."

Cardinals Players

FB Obafemi Ayanbadejo On what didn’t go right for the team: “We had the penalty that eliminated the three points we had acquired. We re-kicked the field goal, missed the field goal and it seemed to kind of snowball and go downhill from there. We lost our composure there a little bit. The room for error in a game like this and with a team so desperate like Denver is miniscule. You can’t make mistakes and lose your head and lose your cool. When you have an opportunity, you have to take advantage of it – and we didn’t do that today.”

On the plays that changed the game: “There were five or six that I’d say changed this game, probably a couple of turnovers on offense, two plays of special teams. The defense was playing tough, we didn’t give them much help early, but the fifteen-yard [penalty by Antonio Smith] … we could’ve done better, that’s all I’m going to say.”

On the difference in time of possession: “They’re a ball control offense and we’re a team that kinds of takes advantage of opportunities. We’re more opportunistic in that sense, creating turnovers and making big plays. We were playing our style and they were playing their style and we were close. They kind of grind it out and run the ball and we had the big play offense and the big play defense. I think we were doing what we wanted to do and then there were a couple of key plays that turned it in their favor and that’s when things kind of went a little haywire for us.”

On why and Larry Fitzgerald were not involved early: “I can’t really say. I’m not sure what kind of coverage they were playing. We seemed to just kind of struggle a little bit early. We found a little bit of a groove in the middle of the second quarter and it just seemed like we’d shoot ourselves in the foot here and there and just never really got going. I never felt personally like we were getting handled, I just felt like we weren’t taking advantage of certain things and we were hurting ourselves. It’s almost like I can go back out there and play is how I feel.”

On being behind early: “I wasn’t uncomfortable being down 13-0. It was good to see us fight back. It was 13-10 at one point, and then it was 16-10 and we had a chance to make it 16-13. I think the energy and the way we play is a lot different now then when it was seven weeks ago. We did lose 37-20, but I didn’t really feel like the game was over until everyone in the stadium felt it was over, which was probably somewhere in the fourth quarter. It was 30-20 and we thought we’d get the ball, but we had the penalty and we didn’t get the ball. It never felt like we were out of it, the guys on the sidelines never seemed like they were giving up. It wasn’t like a hang your heads we’re down – that team seems to be gone now. We did lose, but guys were out their fighting. We could’ve stayed more composed, but in general, I liked the energy out there. We could’ve been smarter.”

DE Antonio Smith On whether or not he was ejected: “The umpire said I didn’t get ejected. The other referee wanted to, but I didn’t get ejected.”

On what Coach Dennis Green said to him about the penalty: “He basically just let me know what it is to be a professional and how to be a professional and how to control your emotions, especially when it’s that part of the game. We had them off the field on that play and I feel like I let my team down because they got a first down after that.”

On his score: “It’s the Chinese-connection. Chike [Okeafor] gets the fumble and I pick it up and take it to the crib. We’re always making plays together. I don’t know why, but it always seems to happen that way.”

WR Anquan Boldin On why he wasn’t involved earlier: “I can’t answer that. I wasn’t on the field, first of all. Time of possession went to them. We just weren’t on the field and if you’re not on the field, you can’t catch the ball.”

On the offense finding a rhythm: “We had a rhythm, we just started slow. By the time we got a rhythm, we were down 10 points.”

On the Broncos pressure of Matt Leinart: “I didn’t think they were going to pressure him that much. My personal opinion was that they didn’t.”

On falling behind early: “Of course you have to change the game plan. You can’t run the ball the way you want to or you can’t stick to what you originally wanted to do. The team could get up 10 or 14 points and then sit back in a cover-two.”

On whether this loss ruins the team’s momentum: “I think we just have got to come out and start better. We came out slow on both sides of the ball. We just can’t allow that to happen.”

On not being able to take advantage of turnovers: “That was big. Anytime you can capitalize on another team’s mistakes, you’ve got to do it.”

SS Adrian Wilson On the overall play of the defense “They are a good team that drove the ball down us today. They also ran the ball well on us today.”

On the play of the Broncos offense “We were on the field a lot today. They were able to keep drives alive today and wore us down. We’ve gone up against good teams this year and they just came out and played well today.”

RB On what prevented the Cardinals to win “We just have to play better. They are a team that is fighting for their playoff lives, and we knew they were going to come out strong today. We just have to play better.”

On making progress throughout the season “We have made some strides. We know we still have to keep working and keep getting better. You never get to a point where you are dead. This team is not dead. We just have to keep working and that comes with the territory. A team like the Broncos studies film real well and they did some things that worked against us.”

On preparation throughout the week “We worked hard this whole week. I’m saying that we have to keep at it. We have to keep working and to keep going.”

On this loss being a bump in the road “We have a lot of talent here. We just have to keep working hard. It’s the little things we have to focus on. Today, Denver forced us out of some calls which was tough, but it’s the little things like that that make a big difference. We were able to move the ball today, but when you are playing from behind it kind of makes you one-dimensional.”

MLB On the play of Jay Cutler “He threw the ball well and he didn’t make very many mistakes. He played his game and came out with a win.”

On the game plan against a rookie quarterback “We wanted to bring pressure, but at the same time wanted to extend coverage and make him throw the ball. He knew the whole package. We just didn’t do enough to win today.”

On containing the Broncos run game “We just tried to get all eleven guys around the ball. That was out main focus. We tried to do that to the best of our ability.”

On dealing with the Denver cut blocks “It was real tough today. When you got guys coming at your feet you don’t always look for them. It was tough trying to get around them today.”

On what separates the two teams from this win “One big thing is maturity. We just made a lot of mistakes that we shouldn’t have made. If we were on top of our game today, things could have been different. We had some lapses today and the only thing we can do is go back to the drawing board and fix those mistakes.

On the Denver ball control “It was tough, mostly because they were winning third down. Today they kept the ball moving on us which made it difficult.”