Zac Taylor on Cincinnati Bengals' 31-24 Win Over Miami Dolphins

They fought us tooth and nail to the very end. I thought Jeff Hafley's doing a great job with these guys, man. He's got them believing. They fought us like they fought a lot of other teams. They gave themselves a chance. There's a lot of frustrating things on our end. We had two personal fouls. We fumbled twice in the red zone. We caught a kickoff on the four-yard line. We had a penalty on a field goal that led to a touchdown, gave them four points, gave up over 200 yards rushing. So plenty, plenty to clean up. The bye hits us at a great time. I know these guys are worn out. We've had some down-to-the-wire games the last three weeks. I know how hot this one was today. So the bye week comes at a great time for us to be three and two. These guys will regroup. We know who we are. Today there's a lot of things we have to clean up to be better when we go to Baltimore in two weeks. And you have time, no doubt, for the Eagles to finish this game. Yeah. I'm going to hear a little disappointment in how they're doing. Well, trust me, I'm not going to sit here and winning. We've got to win games in this league, and we've all sat in this room and seeing some get away from us. So we won the game, and I'm excited about that. And that was our defense created a turnover there at the very end that gave us three extra points, that made it a seven-point game, that made it feel a little bit different, six-point, whatever it was. So we did some good things. There were some positive things we did, but there's also some things that we don't turn the ball over in the red zone like that, the kickoff, the P.A.T., the field goal. I mean, those are things that were better than that, and we've got to clean that up. Yeah, I mean, I thought we ran the ball well. Last week was last week. We put that one behind us. I thought we had a good week of practice. I thought our linemen really came off the ball during practice. I felt confidence coming into this game. I thought our guys finished well, the right way, all the guys that were in those runs. And so that part was good. Was there something that – I think he was just, you know, finishing an extra two, three. Got a lot of confidence in Chase. Sometimes when you've got two great backs that you've got trust in, that's just the way it can go sometimes. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Go ahead. honestly I don't know I'll have to watch him I can't remember if there's pressure involved or or how they happened I was happy when they happened so I'll have to watch him and kind of get a feel, yeah yeah I thought there was I thought there was times that we were covering him, well he made some plays with his feet you know so I know the rushing yards are going to come up on some big quarterback runs that he had as well which which we can't discount that you know anytime you play a guy we're about to play a guy in two weeks I can do the same thing so So we understand we've got to do a better job there. Yeah, I think he just jammed his thumb, I think, on his non-throwing hand. Nothing, he just had a little bandage on it. Do you think this is going to be a good run for the right now? We'll take it game to game on what it's going to look like for every game just to move the ball and score. Is that beyond the success of coming into the game, or is that the way they were playing? That was the way the game played out. They're trying to give you some underneath stuff and let you run the ball a little bit when you're in the gun there. So you've got to take advantage of it and get some yards there. Take advantage of the shots when you get the favorable looks for them, which we did with Jamar on the one. Eventually they've got to come up. If they're going to be in those shells, come up and make a play. I thought they did a great job. They're well coached on defense. I thought their guys tackled well, and they gave us a run there. They made it hard. Yeah, a relentless energy. I think you know what you're going to get with him on every play. He loves being out there. He loves playing. He's physical in the run game. Does a great job affecting the passer. And so I'm pleased with William. What can you say about the toughness of Jamar and T? The question of going into the game, how did they play? Hats off to them. They wanted to play, you know, and Jamar had to clear protocol, I think, on Saturday. T really, his mindset all along was, I'm playing. Now I hadn't seen him on the field enough to know. You know, I appreciate him saying that, but I need to see him do it, you know, in practice, and he did. So for those guys to go out there and make plays that they did for us is big time, and I don't ever question that. I mean, those guys have been here seven years, six years, and they show up for us every chance they get and we got leaders and great players like that on your team it sets the tone for everybody else when those guys are playing through injuries and doing everything they can to come down here and play in Miami before a bye week um they could easily say you know give me a week off we'll get the bye week and we'll come back for a divisional game but they didn't they didn't want to do that nothing really at this point in October gets you ready for this heat i mean it was somebody told me it started off as the hottest game here in October history which which i can attest to i've coached here for four years and this was I mean, pregame, I was worn out, you know? And so our players fought through that. And I told them, I made that statement to them because I know they're dead tired right now. And I didn't want them to think that's just in their mind. They're like, what's wrong with me? It was a hot day and they battled through it and they found a way to win. And I don't discount that at all. Yeah, I mean, he's just Mr. Dependable, whatever it is, whether he's on the practice squad, whether he's on the roster, he's going to show up. And so, you know, he's been who we thought he was. Tanner shows up and makes plays, never complains. Eric goes down for a play, he's in. Mike goes down for a play, he's in. He knows them all. He can play them all. Just I need the defense to decide who he is so we know if we're going to get base or nickel when he's in there. I have no idea. He's out, shoe, he's back in. That's what I know. That's what I hear.