LOVIE SMITH QUOTES Opening Statement That hasn t happened to us very often around here. Terrible job I did getting our football team ready. I thought we were ready to go. Some decisions I made really hurt us early on. We should have taken the field goal. It felt like we had momentum. (I) wanted to really try to knock them out and get them on their heels a little bit. That was a big play in the game. Injury wise, we had a few. Chris Conte was sick and wasn t able to go. Earl Bennett sustained a concussion and that hurt us. Tim Jennings at the end had a shoulder injury and Brian Urlacher had the hamstring injury there late. We had some guys that really played hard throughout offensively, Jay throwing to Brandon. Brandon Marshall time-after-time just really making plays, which kept us in the football game. Offensively I thought we were steady and we got a lead. Once you get a lead, you ve got be able to hold a lead at home with our defense. Defensively, we didn t get a lot done. We had opportunities to make some plays there late - we didn t. Our rush wasn t good enough at the end. We had opportunities. Third downs were terrible today for us. We had them in a fourth-down situation, just not the type of football that we play around here. It s as simple as that. It was disappointing for all of us. Thank God we have more games to play to get this bad taste out of our mouths. We re not that type of football team. Looking at the big picture though, we don t have a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have the Vikings coming up here quickly, so we re going to look at this video, take the punishment for it and go from there. On the decision to not take the field goal We were up seven. It felt like we had momentum. If you re going to win and be able to get in the playoffs and play good football at this time in the season, you ve got to be able to pick it (up) and pick up a fourth and short like that. On if he felt he made the wrong decision after choosing not to take the field goal Every time a decision doesn t work out, I look at it and think that. Would I do it again? Probably so. Again, you ve got to be able to get those fourth and shorts. On if poor tackling had anything to do with the loss Yes. We couldn t get off blocks, we didn t take the ball away enough. Defensively, we didn t get a lot done. On if Michael Bush s strong performance had anything to do with the decision against taking a field goal As it turns out, we didn t get it. But in that situation, yes, with a big back like Michael, we had been moving the ball. We had momentum. Again, I d probably do that again. Those situations, you have to get. In that situation, we had ourselves in position. We had the lead at home. You ve got to be able to finish the job. On Russell Wilson s performance Russell Wilson, you have to give him a lot of credit. He played well. He had a great game. A lot of the success that they had was kind of based on what he did. On those last two drives for us, they just kept the ball moving. It was passing there for a while, running the football. We talked about tackling. Games like that, again, we didn t do a lot right and just didn t make some plays we needed to in that situation. On the offensive line s performance I felt they did an okay job. We didn t give up a lot of sacks and things like that. We did what we needed to do to stay in the game. We just needed to get some help in other places. 1 of 2
On how much defensive fatigue played a part in the loss Fatigue plays in when you don t get off on third downs - and then you don t get off on fourth downs. Yes, it could be like that always. It could be early in the game if you don t get off on third downs. You re going to see it later on. You ve got to be able to reach down. That s what we ve done in those situations, make a play to get off the field. On if practice time with different players makes a difference No. I felt the guys were able to get good rest last week. I don t think that played into it. 2 of 2
BEARS PLAYER QUOTES JAY CUTLER, QB On if he is running out of WRs Yeah, guys are falling down and getting a little bit of the injury bug some guys are getting knocked out. Eric Weems came in and did a nice job for us, and Dane Sanzenbacher did a nice job. We have to roll with the guys that we got. On if it was more disappointing to lose this game after the field goal sent them to overtime Yeah, we don t lose many games like that here as long as I ve been here and having a lead that late in the fourth quarter. Offensively, we need to do a better job. We shouldn t have been in that position. We had a fourth down early in the game, Earl Bennett dropped one, and in the 4-minute drive, I fumbled the ball. Things like that in a game like this with two really good defenses going at it, one play can swing the game. Offensively, we should have done a better job and not put ourselves in that position. On whether he had any input to go for a score instead of a field goal in the first half No. On if he always wants to go for a score instead of a field goal No. I think you have to play smart. It depends on how your offensive line is doing, how well you re running the ball, whether it s a tight game, whether it s a high scoring game there are a lot of things that go into it. On whether he thought it was a good decision to go for the score Yeah. I m not going to second-guess anything. On the play of the offensive line They played okay. They could still anchor a little better. But they are giving me time. In a man-to-man game like that, we just need to a split second to get rid of the ball. On why he was aggressively running Yeah, it was out of necessity. Every yard is important. In field position games, it s a battle. First downs keep the clock going. A lot of things go into it. Playing man, we had a lot of lanes with the line, and we took them as they came. On his impressions of Russell Wilson He is a good quarterback. They do a good job with him. They started doing that read option, and they were doing some delays off of it and giving him the corner. They ran the ball well with Marshawn Lynch he is a tough running back. They did a good job. On his long play to Brandon Marshall I told Brandon to run as fast as he could down there, and I ll throw it to you and you make a play. That s what he did. I just tried to buy some time in the pocket, bounce around a little bit, and found him. I put it up and he did a great job of coming back for it. On whether he was surprised that the defense couldn t hold up in both the fourth quarter and overtime I think it s surprising. Our defense takes a lot of pride in that. Offensively, I m going to worry about our offense and what we can do. I still think we never should have put them in that position. We never should have been there. We missed some points, and missed some opportunities offensively to really put the game away. 1 of 2
On the proper reaction to this loss The games are getting more important as you get down the line. There s no doubt about it. In December football, every game counts. You re trying to get in the playoffs, and trying to make a good push. You re trying to get some rhythm going into those last couple games to see where it can take us. The games are starting to add up. On his opinion on the overtime rules (versus college) I feel good about them. It needs to be a field goal now. If you drive the ball the length of the field and you score a touchdown right off the bat, then you deserve to win the game. It takes 53 guys out there to win or lose a game. We all lost it today offensively, defensively and special teams. On whether he has ever seen Earl Bennett miss a play like he did It happens. I spun him around a little bit, and it was a tough catch. He is going to say that he should have had it. I don t know if he was feeling the effects of that hit down by the goal line or not it s hard to tell. I won t shy away from him, I know that. I ll keep coming back to him. 2 of 2
BEARS PLAYER QUOTES Brandon Marshall, WR On his catch late in fourth quarter and if he thought they were going to score and win in overtime Yes. That s what I thought. Exactly what I thought. On if his first thought was going to the end zone No, it s take what the defense gives you. 27 [seconds] left on the clock, if it s there, of course, you take it, if it s not, you try your best to get out-of-bounds. Knowing the situation, we had two timeouts. You just have to know the situation and that was the best thing to do in that situation. On what is going through his head and to describe his disappointment This is a tough time. This is the time where it s easy to point fingers at people. The one thing about this organization, this team, this coaching staff, the players, we are going to come together through adversity. Through training camp and OTAs, little things that happen, I ve been able to witness that. So that s the promising thing for this moment right now. Very disappointed, but not discouraged. On what it was like for him out there having over 100 yards in physical match-up and being able to accomplish that This game was personal. Any time a team goes one-on-one I take it really personal. I take it as a sign of disrespect. I m going to tell you the truth, I wanted to have a big game and also wanted to win. I wouldn t have been satisfied with a win and 20 yards, because that s the type of player I am. I want to compete and I want to dominate. But those guys played their tail off today and they won and you have to give it to them. You never know, maybe we see them again, maybe we don t. But I still have years left in me and there is always next year. On his thoughts about going for it on fourth down I liked the call. We have the guys that can make the plays. We have been really successful on fourth downs, third and shorts, fourth and shorts. So I liked the call and I was one of the guys that was lobbying for it. We just have to make the play. On what it s like losing so many wide receivers It s tough. There are guys that are hungry. You have Joe [Anderson], a guy on our practice squad, works really hard and he s really hungry right now. (I) Can t wait to see him. You have guys that aren t here. Free agents that are hungry. Guys like Mike Sims-Walker, my best friend, my brother. So maybe he gets a shot. There are guys that are hungry. It doesn t matter if it s Mike Sims-Walker that s on the street right now that s hungry or Joe Anderson who s hungry right now. We definitely will make the right decisions and move forward. On the played called on his big catch and what he was thinking going out there I think Jay [Cutler] said Brandon run straight down the middle really fast and Jay would throw it really hard or high, deep and try to make a play. Players make big plays and we didn t make enough of them today. On what he thought of Jay s performance today Jay [Cutler] played well. I was impressed about Jay s performance today. It wasn t like last week where he threw some amazing balls, but his poise and keeping us together in the huddle, even on the sidelines, even myself. I was really excited and anxious about this game and him just being here for me, just telling me to take it easy and we have four quarters. I love Jay and his leadership. Can t say enough about him and what he brings to our offense and this team. 1 of 2
On his opinion of Russell Wilson coming here as a rookie He s a leader. He s a born leader. I listened to the guy talk. I watch how he conducts himself, how he handles himself. That s a guy I can watch and learn from. Even as a rookie, a young guy, Russell Wilson is a guy that is going to be special. He is special already. He did a great job today and he stayed in it, drove them down the field and got the job done. ` 2 of 2
BEARS PLAYER QUOTES GABE CARIMI, OL On his performance at guard I don t know until I watch the film how I did. (We) just need to keep on trucking here. It seemed like the protection was on point. (We) just need to keep making it better. On the pressure of the remaining four games We felt the pressure this game, and now even more. We want to win all these games. SHEA McCLELLIN, DL On being gassed at the end of the game I don t think we were gassed. We rotate in and out enough; we shouldn t be gassed. I don t think that was the issue. ROBERTO GARZA, OL On the missed opportunities No question. We have plenty of opportunities to go out there and get some points. Obviously on that fourth and short, it is on the offensive line. We have to be able to convert that. That falls squarely on our shoulders. It s unacceptable. We get that, we get points and it is a different story. We definitely left opportunities out on the field, and we have to do a better job. On play of the offensive line At the end of the day, you want to win the football game. That s all that matters. We didn t do enough. On the play-calling For us, we just have to execute. We have to get on those guys and create movement. We have to block. That s what it comes down to. Obviously, we didn t do that on fourth and short. KELVIN HAYDEN, DB On the loss It s not the end of the year. We just need to find a way to bounce back and get ready for next week. On the tank being empty at the end of the game I don t think so. I think we just didn t make any plays. The name of the game is to make plays, and we didn t. We just got to get back to the drawing board. Work on getting takeaways and move forward. On the play of Russell Wilson He was able to get out (of) the pocket and buy some time. Anytime the quarterback gets out of the pocket, coverage breaks down, and he made the plays. You have to remember, this guy is a rookie. So, hats off to him. He s making the plays. They made plays, and we didn t. MATT FORTE, RB On the loss Every loss is painful. On being forced to overtime As an offensive player, we left too much time on the clock. You never want to leave it up to the referees. Or leave it up to having to make a stop or anything like that. I wish we could have run the clock out, you know, run the time out a little more. On his play today The team, as an offense and running the ball, we got off to a slow start. But then, I feel like we got a little rhythm. I think it was probably the best rhythm we had as an offense, running the ball-wise and play action. --more on the back--
On the play offensive line Very well, given the switch around, and Gabe (Carimi) playing guard and Ed (Williams) having to be in there. They played very well. MAJOR WRIGHT, DB On the play of the defense We definitely got to come out and play better football. We know that. This is a tough loss to swallow. On what contributed to today s loss We got to come out and play better (defense). Defense, we pride ourselves on playing defense. (Russell Wilson) got out of the pocket a couple of times, and we got to break down and make tackles.
PETE CARROLL QUOTES Opening Statement Well, this is a pretty exciting day for our football team. We felt like all day long we were fighting against ourselves a little bit and we were battling. We just couldn t get over the hump by numbers and situations that occurred, but the game stayed close and defensively, we just kept hanging in there. It gave us a chance to take care of the opportunity when presented. The last drive in regulation that we pulled off 97 yards, I guess it was, with a penalty in there too, twelve plays was just exquisite execution by the quarterback. He issued the calls properly that were coming off the bench. I thought that Darrell (Bevell) did a great job of calling it to take advantage of some things we saw. It was a great drive. And then they made just an amazing play that never should have happened, but it was a great job by the quarterback. Jay (Cutler) is surely a great football player, and obviously, Brandon (Marshall) is so talented, that when you put those two guys together, they make it so hard. He had a heck of a day today and deserves all of that. But, you tend to be disappointed that they get out and kick the field goal to tie it up. With this crowd, with this football team -an 8-3 team with a big-time defense, who just had terrific momentum at the time- and to take the ball 80 yards in twelve plays again and just claw and scratch to make those first downs and third down conversions and runs and keeps by the QB and then the great finish with Russell (Wilson) and Sidney (Rice) hooking up is a tremendous finish for us. We ve been struggling on the road. We ve been there so many times. This could have happened four times already this year. And, now everybody knows that it can...i think everybody realizes in our locker room, too, that the kid playing quarterback is an amazing kid. We ve seen signs of it all along, but he needed this, in my mind. He would never say that, but, just because, he needed it. He s really exciting and I love the way he pulled this off today. So, we re very fortunate to get out of here with a win against a terrific football team. We needed it badly and we re excited to go back home and finish this thing off. We ve been trying to make a big surge in the second half and we needed to get a couple of wins on the road and we got one so far, so we ll try to keep this thing moving ahead when we play Arizona this week. On whether or not Sidney Rice is alright He seems to be. He had a good time in the locker room, so he seems alright. So, we ll see. On the play of Russell Wilson in this kind of game It was just extraordinary, exquisite poise. It really is. For a young kid like him, it was just exquisite poise. There were so many plays in there where he had to do something special on the play to move, to find the guy, to locate the receiver and to use the right throw and the right decision or to take off and run. He was just so beautifully poised tonight and so confident that it gives himself the kind of chance to play at this level. We keep saying it. Today, he s kind of the recipient of a heck of an overtime win. We all know that with quarterbacks, that kind of stuff is really important as they grow. He didn t need it, honestly, but we all wanted to see it for him, I guess because he s not one for belief in himself and all. On using the option play more as the game went on We thought we had something going a little bit and we were kind of able to control the ball a little bit. We weren t ripping them, but we controlled the ball enough. We did a great job of reading it. We felt like we didn t have to just load up against them. They re a very powerful front. It gave us a chance to finesse a little bit. We still had to block it and execute it, but it did give us something the play pass off of it, the final touchdown, was a nice addition that Darrell called. 1 of 2
On his concern about the final touchdown being overturned by review No. Not when I saw it. I was only nervous because every call went the other way today. I was nervous because of that for a second, but, then I saw it, and there was just no way you could reverse that one. On whether he felt the officials should have reversed Braylon Edwards touchdown My discussion with the officials at halftime was how could you reverse that call when you couldn t see the ball hit the ground? Was it on his hands or was it not? How do you without any question know what that ball did? So, how could it be overturned? That s just how we hear the rule. You couldn t tell. So, how can you reverse the call when you can t tell? But, Mike (Carey) thought he saw it, and he had a lot better look at it than I did. On whether he felt they were starting to wear down the Bears defense with the long drives No, I didn t think that at all. Those guys are too tough and too experienced. They didn t get worn down at all. We just had some really good fortune and stuff working for us and we were really able to execute well. On if he thinks the monkey is off of his back with this road win No, but it s powerful though. It s a powerful illustration for a young bunch of guys that it can happen and this is how it does happen. It s been long time coming. I can only go back that this whole season for the rest of my life will be looking back at these games where we had these wonderful chances, but we re better now than we were. And, Russell has everything at his disposal now. We execute more cleanly. He knows what s expected. We are better now than we were. We just weren t good enough at the time. They were all so darn close; it s a frustrating part of the season for us. On how his defense played the run today I thought we played the run real well today. There were a couple of plays that got away, but they re really good and committed. The ball bounced in short yardage that one time, but all-in-all we played really solid and very aggressive. There were a lot of runs for one and two yards in the game. So, I thought it was a good job by the guys up front. On the job of defensive end, Red Bryant That s amazing because we didn t think he was going to play. I thought Leroy (Hill) might be able to, but he couldn t get through the workout and Red did. So, just to make it out was a great challenge for him and he pulled it through and toughed it out. On the Bears final pass play to set up the field goal We were just laying back. Well, what happened was that (Jay Cutler) got out. Jason Jones had a great shot at him. He juked him and he chucked the football and Richard (Sherman), as he s falling back, his momentum carried him past the ball, was going to catch that football, but Brandon did a great job to get in front of him on it. It shouldn t have happened. We had plenty of time. We had everybody back there. That s a great play by them. It s two great football players beating you right there. On the big third-down conversions There was just a number of clutch plays in those two drives. I mean, everybody contributed. That was one thing I really loved. We were in field goal range. We didn t want to have to kick the field goal and so, to get that one, that really was a big boost there getting us to the end zone. We wanted to win the game. We were trying to win the football game there. We weren t thinking about just kicking the field goal there. I think the buildup to the finish, we felt good about what we were doing. We had some plays that we liked calling. We still had some things. We had that winning pass in our back pocket. So, that was a huge get right there. 2 of 2
SEAHAWKS PLAYERS QUOTES GOLDEN TATE, WR On the win I think it was huge. Obviously, we faced adversity a few times. So, to see us battle back like that, our offense to be able to move the ball at the end of the game, two long drives at the end to win, really twice is huge. On Russell Wilson He was huge. I think he played really well. Kept the chains moving, with his speed, so athletic, making plays throwing on the run, hitting the right guys. Then when it mattered most, you saw him shine. ZACH MILLER, TE On his thoughts at the end of regulation Let s win this toss and go get points, cause I knew however it went if we put points on the board our defense would get a stop if it was a field goal, or we d outright win it. How the win sets up the final four games It s huge for us. Obviously, we ve had some struggles on the road and we wanted to get that headed in the right direction and we finally got a win on the road here. It s been a while. Now we get to go back home and go back to a divisional opponent. BRUCE IRVIN, DE On what plays stood out to him Like you said, that fourth and one. We got them off the field and held them to no points. Coming out in the second half and getting a lot of key three and outs. We had some penalties and kept them alive, but when it was time and it mattered we dug deep and got them off the field. Did the number of officiating calls disrupt their flow We just weren t getting [any] calls. Obviously, it s frustrating. When you re on the sideline and see holding calls and you see, just a lot of stuff But we can t complain. We came out of here with the win. We have to get ready for next week. On the defense s play We were just trying to stay in our rush lanes. (Jay) Cutler is a guy who can take off and run. He hit us a couple of times with it, but we just tried to stay in our rush lanes. Give those guys back there time to cover up. We got off the field in a lot of situations. He (Cutler) made a lot of plays, but we made more.
SEAHAWKS PLAYERS QUOTES Russell Wilson, Quarterback On having fun out there It was a blast out there. To play here in Solider Field. I played here once before for Wisconsin, but to play here as a Seattle Seahawk, and to come out with win against a tremendous team. Their defense is really spectacular some of the guys they have. I have been watching them for 10-15 years. It was a great win for us. Guys really focused and guys made some unbelievable plays when we needed them, and that s the key. On playing against Bears defense First of all, I think it starts with the offensive line. Offensive line did a tremendous job with giving me enough time to make some decisions. The receivers and tight ends did a great job making some great catches in some tough circumstances. We really made some plays. I went to the huddle the last drive right before we went into overtime, I just told the guys, You know guys this is what the season comes down to. Right here, right now. We have 97 yards to go. We have to play one play at a time, stay in the now and execute and just make the plays when we need them. And the guys really did that tonight. Golden Tate, to be able to get into the end zone there, which was unbelievable. He was spectacular to be able to maneuver and get there. Sidney Rice s big catch, Zack Miller s big catch on 4 th down. And that s what we need and that s how we have to play. That is what the NFL is about. Playing in tough situations when the game is on the line and guys have to make plays, guys have to execute. On the Bears drive to end regulation Watched. Jay Cutler obviously made an unbelievable throw, and Brandon Marshall, to be able to cut in front of everybody, run full speed to that ball, and make that play was really unbelievable. That was probably a 55-60 yard play, but I wasn t worried. I knew that we would have to get the ball back hopefully and I believed in the situation, the circumstances and everything that was kind of going against us at first, but also going our way at the same time. And to be able to get that touchdown there. Matt Flynn goes out there to get the coin toss flip and that was big for us. Obviously we got the ball and we were just running the ball extremely well and the offensive line was doing a great job of letting Marshawn run. Tight ends and receivers were doing a great job letting me run when I had the football and getting those first downs. Coach Bevell did a great job calling the plays where we can be in a great situation to win the game at the very end. Fighting back to get the road victory Like I said last week, we have to continue to believe. The situation, we ve been in tough circumstances and we had some great opportunities as well. So I think the process, just trusting the process, trusting what we do on daily basis. Obviously, some of these games we ve lost have come down to the last minute, last 30 seconds on the road or at home or whatever. Obviously we have won some big games at home, all of them really. I think the biggest thing is focusing on the now, focusing on what we can do to control the game when the game is on the line. Like I said over and over again, guys were really focused; guys were paying attention to detail and it was a spectacular win for us. Reading options apart of the game plan I think that as the game went on, I continued to tell the coaches and they saw it too as well. Hey, especially in that last 4 th quarter and in the end of the game as well, the read options wide open pretty much. We have to trust the process and make sure I am making the right reads and everything. Offensive line was doing a great job on fitting up on their blocks. Marshawn was making a couple moves to continue to make the first downs. When I took the ball we were gaining first downs and getting positive gains. I think the biggest thing is the coaching staff is doing a tremendous job of doing what was working and doing a great job of making those calls when we needed them. The last
touchdown to Sidney Rice, we actually had the read option play on, but then we faked it and basically made it look like it was going to be the read option and Sidney Rice became open in the front of the end zone. Line of scrimmage call from previous play Well initially we had the play on and then we came back in the huddle and we changed the play. That was a big play for us; they were looking for that play I think. Sidney Rice made a great move at the line of scrimmage, came across the line and made an unbelievable catch. Just to be able to hold the ball enough for the way he got hit the way he did, that was unbelievable. Talking about the call of the last play We talked about it before going in, hey we got the read option right here. We went back, the referees were changing something or whatever. We just changed the play. Coach Bevell did a great job of recognizing what they were trying to do. I definitely seeing it to as well and it was a perfect play for us. What tells you the read option is open You get a feel for the game. I have had a lot of experience playing football and obviously it started with a lot of games in college. Starting here as a rookie, I kind of get a feel for the game and just recognize what is going to work and what is not. Obviously our offensive line makes it work. It all starts with them. Their ability to move their feet, fill up on their blocks. There is a lot of working pieces that makes the play successful and we were doing that today. How does this set up the last four games It means we got another win, and I think the biggest thing is we have to focus on what we can do to win these last games obviously. But the only thing you can focus on is winning one game at a time. We re definitely going to do that. It is a huge momentum-getter to beat Chicago here at Soldier Field in front of all these people. Unbelievable crowd. Obviously, to come home with a huge win in the fashion that we came with the win that was big for us. And I definitely believe we have to continue to believe, continue believe in what we do and continue to believe in the process of what we are doing. Sending out texts to teammates before the game Yeah, that is more so, I do that on Mondays. Let the team know in terms of what is going to be successful in terms of the passing game. It is more so towards the receivers and tight ends but just to let them know what the coverages are, what the personnel is, what are they trying to do with certain personnels. Yeah, that is more so, yeah I don t usually talk about the runs. I meet with the offensive coordinator, Coach Bevell and coach Cable on Mondays and Tuesdays and sit down with them and go over the run game. That more so the passing games in terms of letting the receivers know. Texts or emails Depends on the situation. Type of quarterback will we see against the Arizona Cardinals I am so much more composed. I know the offense that much more, the experience of playing in the National Football League, the game moves fast and you have to be able to slow down the game. It is definitely slowing down for me. I am getting to know my receivers better, my tight ends better, my offensive line better. I know the protection so well right now. Can check to whatever I want to, now I can do that early. Now I know how to put the defense in a bad situation, a situation they don t want to be in and that helps. Continue to study film, continue to do what I am trying to do in terms of getting there early and leaving late, it really helps me. Like I said, I have to continue to trust the process. It is a long, long journey and I can t wait for the next game that is ahead.