Postgame quotes from the Cardinals following the Seahawks' 22-16 Week 10 win on Thursday Night Football at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Head Coach Bruce Arians
(Opening statement…) "We knew this would come down to a game of big plays, and we didn't make enough. Obviously, Russell [Wilson] made a great play when he was trying to throw it out of bounds, and that was probably the deciding factor in the game. I thought our guys fought their asses off. Couldn't ask for any more effort. A little better execution. We dropped way too many balls and put ourselves behind the chains offensively way too many times in that game. And unforced errors, it wasn't anything they did, it was what we did. We knew it would be tough sledding running the ball, but we still hammered it in there. Drew [Stanton] had a heck of a game. When you get hit that many times, you're going to miss somebody. He missed John [Brown] there wide open down on the sideline at the end, but not to turn it over. We had no plan of him throwing it 37 times, but you get behind, you have to. I thought our defense played lights out other than one play."
(On if he thought the receivers were in positions to make plays…) "Yes. And they didn't. They dropped it or just didn't make the play."
(On what the issues were with the run game tonight…)"It was hit or miss. We knew it was going to be hard. Our good front, we didn't block as well as we did last week. There were one or two that looked like they were going to come out of there, but they didn't."
(On if S Antoine Bethea slipped while trying to grab the interception in the fourth quarter…) "Right before he went up, it looked like he slipped just a little bit or he had an interception because it was thrown right to him. He just slipped as he was jumping up it appeared."
Quarterback Drew Stanton
(On how the team bounces back from a loss that included several injuries to teammates…) "It is unfortunate, but that is the way it goes in this league. It is a battle of attrition and we lost some guys, but we just need guys to step up. We have guys that are capable in this locker room. We feel good about them and they just need to step in and fill a roll."
(On the reason the team struggled to get the running game going…) "They do a really good job. They are physical up front. They have good backers and we knew it was going to be a dog fight. It is like that all the time. There are no surprises in this game and unfortunately we just didn't get the ball rolling. I didn't do a good enough job of keeping us in third downs and converting those to get the ball rolling and try and soften stuff up."
(On if he felt like the offense was playing on schedule through three quarters…) "Yeah, we knew it was going to be a low scoring game. We want to try to establish the line of scrimmage, push the ball down the field and take our shots. B.A. (Bruce Arians) touched on it last night, if we hit those shots that is going to be the difference in us winning the game. Historically in this game, if you kick field goals, you lose. That is what we did unfortunately. On third down I didn't convert that one to Troy (Niklas) and that could have been a difference maker for us."
Tackle Jared Veldheer
(On trying to run the ball to start the game…) "Yeah, we just have to get better at our job, being able to displace some people and get on guys and move them out of the way."
(On Seattle's defensive front compared to other fronts the team has faced this year…) "It always seems like they play very well and have very good continuity as 11. They always have good tacklers, and they fly around. We know the challenge coming into the game, and we weren't able to execute enough to win."
(On how the offense changes when the offense can't run the ball…)"I just think that we are at our best when we are able to do both (run and pass). I think any team is at their best when they are able to do both those things, especially versus a team like the Seahawks. It's been kind of our thing that we've put importance on, especially this week when we know how big that is versus that team. We fell short on that today, and myself included. We need to get better, and we need to play better."
Linebacker Karlos Dansby
(On sacking QB Russell Wilson five times…) "That's what we expected to do. We came in at the beginning of the week, I told you, we wanted to stop the run. We came in, and we stopped the run. We got where we wanted to be, and we knew we had certain things that we could get to him with."
(On Wilson's throw to WR Doug Baldwin in the fourth quarter…)"We put him right in the position where we wanted him, and like I said, he made a great play. You can't do nothing else – nothing. You just have to get him on the ground; that's it. And we weren't able to get him on the ground in that moment, and he made a play that will probably go down in history."
Game action photos from the Seahawks' 22-16 victory over the in Week 10 at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald
(On what the difference was tonight…) "We just didn't make enough plays. There was some out there to be had, then didn't make enough of them. When you're playing against a good football team like that, especially on the defensive side, you can't give up those opportunities. They're just too talented, too fast, too explosive. When you get your shots, you've got to capitalize on them.
(On how difficult it is to see teammates and opponents go down with injuries…) "Yeah, it's frustrating. I don't know the extent of Tyvon (Branch) and D.J. (Humphries). I hope they're minor. You always hope and pray for that. I know Sherm got banged up on their end. Every time you play these guys, I feel like it's such a physical battle. I mean, every time I looked up, I felt like the trainers were running on the field. It's just physical, no holds barred out there and I hope the guys that went down are going to be alright."
(On how the offense changes when the run game isn't as effective as it was last week…)"Well you really want to be able to establish the run against this team. Get them down there in single high and be able to make some plays down the field, and we had runs – six-yard, eight-yard runs. We didn't have any big pops though. Sometimes, those body blows are good too. They continue to soften the defense. The one thing I did like about it is that we stayed committed to the run game. I don't know how many attempts we had, but I felt like we stuck with it. We continued to pound it at them. We've got to continue to do that as the season goes on because when you get into those obvious passing situations against a team that has great pass rushers like Seattle does, it makes it very difficult. You saw it at the end of the game. Those guys get paid to rush and they do a good job of it."
Running Back Adrian Peterson
(On the running game…) "It was some missed opportunities on my part, they did a great job defensively of containing us. We just really couldn't get into a rhythm."
(On if this loss hurts more than others…) "It definitely does. We knew there was going to be adversity, even after the fumble there was more adversity. But guys continued to fight on both sides of the ball, all the way down to the last twenty seconds of the game. Most guys on the sideline believed that we were going to recover the onside kick and get into the end zone. When you're competing and you're in that type of game, it just takes one drive of getting into the end zone that could've switched the moment, it hurts a lot more."
(On if the amount of injuries is related to playing on Thursday Night Football…) "It's rough to be honest with you. But I don't know if that had anything to do with it, I would have to sit back and look at the plays, to see if that's the case. If a guy jumps up and got hit in his leg on the way down then I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with a short week. I would have to see the plays to come up with that answer."
Safety Antoine Bethea
(On QB Russell Wilson's 54 yard pass to WR Doug Baldwin in the fourth Quarter…) "It was just one of those plays. Scrambling is what we always talk about when playing him, and he made a play."
(On the overall defensive performance…) "I think we played solid, but solid doesn't get the win. Making another play here or there it could've been a different story."
(On Wilson's scrambling ability…) "We knew that coming in, we knew that he could do that in the backfield, prolonging plays with his legs, we knew that. They made more plays than we did tonight."
Defensive Lineman Josh Mauro
(On how frustrating Wilson is…) "I mean that's what he's been doing. It's not a surprise, his ability to extend to plays, that's really the catalyst to their whole offense. He extends a play, receivers move downfield, they break off their original route and he finds them. He has good accuracy and power to get it there. Like I said we prepared for it, we practiced for it, we played against him in the past, but when its live bullets out there you just have to make a play. Credit him and the receiver for making that play."
(On QB Russell Wilson's 54 yard pass to WR Doug Baldwin in 4th Quarter…) "He made a play. I'll take him throwing off of his back foot into coverage every time. Credit them, they made a play, we had him held up but he made a play, simple as that."