MARVIN LEWIS
Opening Comments:
 Lewis |
“As you look forward to the Ravens, the thing that’s different about them from the last time we played them is their average rushing yards per game. It has gone up 18, 19, 20 yards per game. So they’ve improved quite a bit in that. Their yards-per-carry has gone up. They’ve done a really good job of running the football and obviously making bigger plays in the run game.
“Prior to our game, all the talk was around Ray Rice not getting the ball. So they’ve solved that, I guess (laughs). That’s the one real difference in things. Offensively, they still have the vertical threat in (Torrey) Smith, who has had a very good year. Then you’ve got (Lee) Evans out there now, who also has very, very good speed. And the tight ends are making plays. So offensively, it still centers around 27 (Ray Rice), and then the other guys come into play very good.
“Defensively, they’ve really hit their stride and really continue to put pressure on the quarterback. They’re playing very good on third down because of that pressure. In one game alone, (Terrell) Suggs had three sack-fumbles. So that’s going to be big. We have to make sure we’re not in third-and-long situations all day long. When we get in third down, we have to convert those third downs, but we’ve got to do a great job protecting the quarterback, we’ve got to win versus coverage. They get a little handsy in the back end, so we have to run through the grabs.”
It was announced today that Sunday’s game is a sellout. Do you have a message for the fans?
“Yeah, thank you, that’s great. The guys are excited. I know a lot of people did their part to make this happen, so that’s awesome.”
In the running game last week, Baltimore ran for 162 against Cleveland and you guys ran for 165 against Arizona. It seems like both teams are heading into this week with some momentum in the ground game:
“Well it’s going to be something big we’ve got to do. We need to do a great job up front and with 11 guys on defense, and then with the up-front guys on offense and the perimeter guys. When you run the football effectively, it takes everybody on that field to get it done. That’s big. Defensively, the second part of the equation is tackling. It’s very important that you tackle. You have to tackle in the running game and you have to tackle on the catch.”
How can you keep the ball out of Ray Rice’s hands?
“You can’t. They can just hand it to him.”
Are you able to dictate how often they use him?
“No. They can just turn around and hand it to him. I don’t think we can do that. But he’s always, always a factor in the passing game. He’s either the focus of the route, or if it’s a screen, they do it very effectively to him with varying kinds. Or when the quarterback gets in a position where he’s trapped or in trouble, he knows where (Rice) is as the outlet receiver, if you haven’t eaten him up in the protection. Joe Flacco does a great job of finding him as an outlet player. So when your responsibility dictates that you’ve got him, whether it be man or zone or whatever, you’ve got to be conscious of where (No.) 27 is.”
John Harbaugh got his start as a special teams coach and still really emphasizes it to his team. How big is special teams play going to be on Sunday?
“Special teams is huge. Jerry (Rosburg), their special teams coach over there, along with John, do a great job. Being able to control and hold field position is going to be big. Their specialists are excellent players, so our guys have to do a great job of matching up and playing against them. I don’t know if the kicker (Billy Cundiff) will be back (from injury), but he’s obviously a weapon kicking off. He’s injured with a calf, but he’s been a great weapon, as we saw over there in the first game. I don’t think we got an opportunity to bring one (a kickoff) back at all. So that’s key.”
Predictions and expectations for your team from early on were a lot lower than what has actually turned out. As you consider that, can you give a characterization of this team as you sit here right now with a big game on tap for Sunday?
“I just don’t think they’ve let anybody set limits on what they can do. I don’t think you can be a professional athlete and ever allow that to happen. That’s important. Everybody wants to put people in a situation based on names on paper, until they don’t like those names anymore (laughs). They like the names, they think that helps, and then it doesn’t help. It gets proven year after year in the National Football League.
“It’s what you do and how you go about it and execute it. In order to win football games in the NFL, we know you’ve got to take care of the football, and you’ve got to be effective and efficient on offense. You’ve got to not allow explosive (plays) on defense and limit the scores. It comes down to the same recipe year after year after year, no matter what names are on that paper. It depends on who gets it done the best.”
You did have 
“No. It’s all part of the selection process. It’s a reflection of play and recognition, which comes from winning. The more you win, the more recognized you get. That happens. Obviously the big markets get a lot of fan support, so they overwhelmingly win that vote, regardless of what kind of season they’ve had. Fans turn out in big markets and vote for guys through popularity, even though they may not have had a season worthy of those kinds of vote totals. But that’s part of it. That’s where the league wanted to involve the fans, even though sometimes it sways things the other way from the people who really look at it week-in and week-out.”
Last week, the score of the Jets game was not on the scoreboard. Do you have any special scoreboard requests or limitations this week?
“That’s my business.”
A.J. Green made the Pro Bowl, and he may not be the only one to make it, considering all the players on this team who were voted as alternates:
“That’s not the focus. That’s a great honor for A.J., but that’s not the focus of what this is about. The goal is to have them all busy (during Pro Bowl weekend).”
You’ve had some big games over your tenure here as head coach and are familiar with the atmosphere around those big games. How do you think this team will respond to this big game?
“We’ve just got to stay poised and focus on what our job at hand is. All that stuff is on the peripheral. It comes down to our 11 and their 11, each and every play. We’ve got to do a good job of that.”
This is a very young team to be put in this situation:
“Young is an excuse. Now it’s time to win. Whether or not it is, we’ll see. We’ve got to do a good job. That’s what my job is, make sure we can keep putting them in the position to win games. That’s what I said after we didn’t beat Houston: I’ve got to do a better job getting them in positions to win games. I told you that was going to be the most important game we’ve played all year. And it was, right? We would be sitting here playing to win the division. We’re one play away there, or one big play away. But we didn’t do it, and now this one’s up next and it counts big. It’s what the guys have worked extremely hard for. It’s important.”
“Andy talks too much, then (laughs).”
This whole year has been about him growing and learning different things. How much can he learn from an experience like the one from the second Pittsburgh game?
“They didn’t do anything that was any different.”
There is usually a growth from a team or player the second time they face a defense. How can Dalton learn from the tough loss to Pittsburgh the second time around?
“He learns every time he steps out on the football field. That’s one positive part of his makeup. You know, they’ve got to beat us, too.”
ANDY DALTON
 Dalton |
There's a good chance you'll end up playing in the Pro Bowl:
“We shall see. We shall see.”
Two years ago, they got down to the eighth alternate QB at Pro Bowl in Miami:
“Really? It's just an honor to be an alternate. We'll see what happens. That's definitely not our focus right now, and definitely not my focus.”
When you were younger, is making the Pro Bowl one of the things that you dreamt of doing?
“For sure. I think that's one thing that a lot of kids that want to play in the NFL, growing up you think you want to play in the Super Bowl and you want to go to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. I just had a lot of great guys around me that have helped me out this year. I just feel blessed to be where I am.”
Is it surprising for you that you and A.J. both got good Pro Bowl vote totals, even though you are both rookies who had no offseason workouts to prepare yourselves?
“Yeah. It's something that no one would have thought of coming into this year, probably except for us. It shows what this year's been like and what this team is like. We've fought hard, we tried to find ways to win every game, and I think we've done a good job. And we've got another big one this week. It's going to be a fun week.”
This is second time you’ve faced Baltimore. Is there anything you know you can learn from the first game, like when you got to face Pittsburgh a second time around?
“Yeah. Getting to go against them again, you kind of understand how they play and different things like that. And you see how the game goes. We turned the ball over too many times last time and we lost. That's definitely going to be a focus for us this time.”
You’ve cut down on your interceptions since the first Baltimore game on Nov. 20. Have you made adjustments since that game that have allowed for that improvement?
“Turnovers usually decide the game, and I turned the ball over too many times. I have to look back at how I've been playing and correct those things. It's just being smarter with the football.”
Is it a matter of you just being more careful with the football?
“Yeah, there were a couple of throws in there that I threw that I shouldn't have made, whereas now I know not to make those throws.”
The interception last week (which was called back) looked like a result of getting hit as you threw it:
“Yeah, I got hit. I didn't get everything into it as I wanted to.”
So it wasn't the result of a bad decision?
“No, it was the right spot, I just underthrew it a little bit.”
“Obviously it's unfortunate to a have him go on IR, to have the second receiver go on IR, but I think the guys are going to come in and play. Everybody knows what Hawk (
A.J. Green is normally thought of as a deep threat, but you guys have been getting him the ball on a few bubble screens:
“Yeah, he can do it all. It's just finding ways to get him the ball and get him in some space.”
Are you surprised he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie?
“I'm not surprised. He's had a great year and he's a great player, so I'm very happy for him.”
Are you glad that game is sold out?
“For sure. Just to have everyone here in Cincinnati wanting to come out for this game, I think that's something we've been wanting and been trying to get for a while. I'm just happy everybody responded to it. It's going to be a fun atmosphere, and we're excited about it.”
It doesn’t get much bigger than ending the season with a division game as a play-in to get into the playoffs, right?
“I guess you'd hope it would be that way – a big game against a division rival. That's kind of how we hoped it would be.”
A year ago, on New Year’s Day, you were playing in the Rose Bowl. This year on New Year’s Day, you’ll be playing in a game to get into the playoffs. Is there any comparison with how the two have felt?
“It's just another football game. It does have a lot riding on it, but you can't put any extra pressure into it. I've got to go out and prepare like I always have and just go play. You can't put any added pressure on yourself.”
Is it crazy to think that in the span of exactly one year you’ve come from biggest college game of your life to the biggest professional game of your life?
“Yeah, it's kind of crazy to think I'd be at this point right now. It's something I've always wanted to do. I'm just excited for this opportunity.”
What does it mean to you to be voted first alternate to the Pro Bowl by your peers?
“It means a lot to have my peers and the coaches and everybody to vote for me. It's nothing I've done on my own. There are a lot of great guys on this team that have helped me out and helped us get to this point.”
Had you thought about your chances of getting the final spot or being an alternate?
“I hadn't really even thought about it. I didn't even know when all of it got voted. I know we voted on it, but I didn't know how long that took. I wasn't thinking much about it.”
You just voted for the defense, right?
“Yeah, we (the offense) just voted for the defense.”
So you won’t be making any plans for Jan. 29, right?
“We'll see what happens. Hopefully we're still playing.”
Baltimore has a lot at stake and is playing for a first-round bye. Do you like that they have something to play for?
“For sure. I think that's what we want. We're going to get their best shot and we wouldn't want anything else. We want to go out and play our best against a really good team, so that's just how we want it.”
What are your thoughts on Baltimore’s young CB, Jimmy Smith?
“He's done some good things. They picked him early for a reason. They obviously have a lot of confidence in him to be out there playing.”
Is he like what you saw last week with Patrick Peterson?
“He's a taller guy with long arms. He's done a good job.”
He got you on one of your throws in the first Baltimore game:
“He got me. One of those throws I probably shouldn't have thrown.
He’s got long arms:
“Yeah. He's an athletic guy.”
