Joe Burrow on Cincinnati Bengals' Win Over Browns

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Transcript

00:00What changed? Why did the offense go for what was that?

00:03Well, their DBs are sticky in coverage.

00:06They've got a good pass rush.

00:09That's usually a recipe for success.

00:10We just have to find a way to count on that.

00:13If someone would have told you you would have gone 14 at 23,

00:16or 113 yards, and just one touchdown,

00:18you guys would come here and then, what would you say?

00:21Yeah, I'll take it.

00:23It would depend on how the film looked.

00:25So we'll watch it and try to get better.

00:27Just for the defense to put that kind of winning-time performance on tape

00:31after everything that unfortunately didn't go their way last year,

00:35does that fire you up going into the marathon that starts now?

00:40Yeah, it was a great start to the season.

00:42You know, great confidence builder for our team.

00:45Obviously, just like we want to improve,

00:48they're going to want to improve too on certain things.

00:50That's NFL football.

00:51So we'll watch the tape and we'll get better.

00:54Last year, I felt like so often these type of games didn't go your way.

00:57The fact that the first one of the year, it does go your way.

00:59You're able to get out of here and we'll win.

01:00Just how big is that for you?

01:01Yeah, we'll take it.

01:02We'll take it.

01:03Anytime you can win like this, you kind of steal one.

01:07So we stole one today and we're going to have to be better.

01:10How do you evaluate your performance?

01:12We'll have to watch the tape.

01:14You know, first half I thought I was pre-lights out.

01:17You know, I thought I made some good throws in the second half,

01:20but we'll watch the tape and see.

01:21Can you take us through that three-sack

01:24and see what it's like not going to steal on the board?

01:27You recall the play action and miles one on the edge,

01:30tried to step up, but he did a good job bending and running me down.

01:37Having a tough time remembering the second play

01:39and then third play the third down.

01:43You know, the pocket started to collapse a little bit.

01:45I kind of jumped over the line.

01:46That kind of grabbed my leg.

01:47So I just kind of tried to dive out of the end zone right there.

01:52What would it do with the team that you guys

01:54broke up being chased around as much as you did,

01:56especially early on?

01:58Yeah, these early games are always tough.

02:01You've got to be able to establish the run.

02:02That's who we want to be on offense.

02:04We want to be able to run the ball.

02:06The first half it was great.

02:08And then in the second half,

02:10all facets of the offense just weren't good enough.

02:13So we've got to get better.

02:14How frustrating is it?

02:15How good you felt?

02:18And then just not have the offense click the way you wanted to,

02:20especially knowing what y'all want to accomplish.

02:22Yeah, it was obviously frustrating at times,

02:24but, you know, we made enough plays to win,

02:27so that was good.

02:29Joe, were you able to see in week one in this game

02:31the fruits of the labor of what you guys did in the preseason

02:34of wanting to get to that fast start of getting reps you guys did?

02:37Yeah, I mean, we scored a touchdown

02:38on two of our first three possessions.

02:42Went right down the field on the first one,

02:44scored a touchdown, put us in a good spot.

02:46And then we just got to find a way to make some adjustments

02:51to help some guys get open,

02:53try to find a way to complete balls,

02:54keep running the ball in the second half

02:55like we didn't do today.

02:57Joe, when you've gone against the defense already in practice,

03:00already in training,

03:01what have you seen from them, you know,

03:02in the last couple of months,

03:03knowing what they've gone through this offseason,

03:05this overhaul,

03:06that kind of made you confident

03:07that even though you guys weren't as crisp as you'd like to be,

03:09that they were still,

03:10you were confident that they could still make the plays

03:12at the end and don't make it that you guys can win?

03:15Yeah, you can see it in practice,

03:16but, you know, practice doesn't matter at the end of the day.

03:20You can make as many plays in practice as you want,

03:22but if you go out there on Sunday

03:23and don't make any plays,

03:24then that's all that really matters.

03:26And they made big-time plays today in big spots.

03:29I thought they stopped the run

03:30and, you know, put some pressure on Joe

03:34in some key spots.

03:37And then the two turnovers were just great plays by our guys.

03:40At this point in your career,

03:41what's the balance that you find in celebrating a win

03:44and knowing, you know,

03:45the last couple of years,

03:46you guys have been starting off the season

03:48the way that you have,

03:49but also not being happy

03:51and feeling the way you guys played on offense

03:53wasn't up to your standard.

03:54What's that balance like?

03:55Yeah, well, we celebrated in there.

03:59Now it's behind us.

04:00We'll watch the tape and we've got to get better.

04:01So everybody on offense knows

04:03that the second half today was not good enough.

04:05And we'll address it.

04:08Were you open to go for it on that front?

04:10Were you trying to catch a bomb?

04:11No, you can't go for it in that spot.

04:13If you don't get it, you basically lose the game.

04:16Our defense was making plays at the time,

04:18so you just got to punt it

04:20and try to get them to make another play.

04:23How has being in the league

04:24for as long as you've been in the league now

04:25and dealing with all the circumstances,

04:27like ups and downs,

04:28helped you kind of put the game like this in context?

04:31How has it helped you internalize

04:33how the game started for you?

04:34Yeah, I mean, we found a way to win.

04:37Like somebody said earlier in the press conference,

04:40we didn't win any of these games last year.

04:42And so usually when you can win a game like this,

04:46that's a recipe for success

04:48and it means you're going to be a good team

04:50if you can find a lot of different ways to win,

04:52and we did today.

04:52You lost Lucas pretty early on in the game.

04:54How did you feel like Dalton did?

04:56Yeah, Dalton did great.

04:57He got here, what, middle of last week,

05:01so the operation was clean.

05:07You know, we have a lot of different silent cadences,

05:09and I thought he handled it well.

05:11You know, that right guard spot has to be a smart player,

05:14especially on the road,

05:15to handle all those cadences

05:16and then turn his head around

05:19and get a quick snapshot of the defense

05:20and then know what to do more quickly than everybody else

05:25because he's not looking at the defense.

05:27So credit to him for being ready.

05:30He's a veteran player.

05:31You know, he knows what it takes,

05:32so I'm excited to keep playing with him.

05:35Joe, what was the most difficult part about the Browns defense?

05:37Was it the front four or was it the secondary?

05:39What made them tough?

05:40It all works together.

05:41It all works together.

05:42Their corners are two of the best in the league.

05:46I don't think any other team has a better tandem than they do,

05:49and then they do a good job figuring out ways

05:53to get their guy 95 in one-on-one situations

05:58and playing man coverage and being sticky

06:01so you have to hold on to it a little longer,

06:03try to get guys open,

06:04and then, you know, by the time that happens,

06:06usually 95's there.

06:07So their whole scheme works together,

06:10and I have a lot of respect for them.

06:11How do you put miles in terms of just playing against them so much?

06:15Like, you know, in terms of all players and politicians,

06:17what do you feel like in the race?

06:18It's tough to find anybody better than that guy.

06:22I know you guys didn't have to expose this to it,

06:24but is there something you can take out

06:25from an offensive perspective playing in these league games?

06:28You don't turn the ball over.

06:29You didn't have a lot of penalties in the second half.

06:31So there's something you can take away from that,

06:32saying, like, you did what you kind of had to do

06:34in an away environment or away division game.

06:37Yeah, that's how a lot of these early games play out.

06:39Well, you know, it's never clean.

06:41Obviously, we would have liked it to be more clean,

06:43and we would have liked to be explosive.

06:45But, you know, the first half was great.

06:48We scored touchdowns on two or three possessions.

06:51And, you know, if you can do that through the whole game,

06:54then you're going to be really happy with your performance.

06:55And we just weren't able to sustain that today.

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