McNuggets: Ravens 30 – Broncos 7 Postgame Quotes

Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens speaks with head coach Josh McDaniels of the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium on November 1, 2009 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Larry French/Getty Images)

Sunday post-game quotes from the Denver Broncos‘ 30-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Thanks as always to the Denver and Baltimore PR departments.

DENVER BRONCOS

Head Coach Josh McDaniels

(opening statement) “Let me start by saying Baltimore did a nice job today. [They] deserve a lot of credit. We were out-coached, out-played, basically, in every phase. Coach [John] Harbaugh did a nice job, obviously, of getting their team ready to go. Anytime you go on the road against a good football team and you don’t bring your ‘A’ game, this is what can happen to you. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us here, a lot of improving to do – which we knew we had to do anyway. This is the easiest way to see it come true.”

(on if this was the result of any bye week blues) “No. They didn’t have any bye week blues. No. That has nothing to do with it, whatsoever.”

(on if the first play of the game resulting in a QB Kyle Orton sack hurt their rhythm) ”Yeah. We missed a protection. It happened a few times today, I think. We think our protection in general was not as good as it’s been so far this year. That was certainly an example of that – miscommunication, missed protection, missed block, whatever it may be. Again, it was not a good way to start any game, with a sack like that.”

(on if the Ravens were more aggressive than they had been) ”I don’t know overall, numbers-wise, but we knew they were a pressure team when they want to do it. They kind of picked their spots, and really they hurt us with some different schemes and pressures throughout the game. I think they started more aggressively than they have, but it really wasn’t about the free blitzers in the backfield most of the time. It was more of getting beat here or there. We’ve got to do a better job of coaching them, and we’ve got to do a better job of executing.”

(on if a loss like this can be beneficial in the long run) “I think anytime you have a game like this it forces you to look in the mirror and really tell yourself where you’re at individually and as a football team. We’ve got eight days now to get ready for the Steelers, and those are going to be eight hard days, good days hopefully. We need to… You can find out just as much about one another and your team and your staff through the adversity of a loss as you can through six wins. We’re going to find out how we respond.”

(on if he’s concerned about special teams) “Yeah, I mean anytime you give up a kick for a score, and there were some other things I’m sure that weren’t perfect either in the kicking game. That’s obviously a big part of what we do and what we preach and how we try to win. Anytime that you lose that phase in a game, it really hurts your opportunities and chances to win the game as a whole. We need to do better, we need to coach better, and we need to play better.”

(on what he thought of P Mitch Berger) “[He had] good hang time, gave our gunners the opportunity to get down there and cover some, create some fair catches. I don’t think they had too many opportunities to just catch it and take it back on us. Again, we’re worried more about the net than the gross, and I thought he did a decent job of giving us the opportunity to down the punt there before the half. But, that will get better. It will keep getting better.”

(on what specifically the Ravens did well in the second half) “They ran the ball. I thought they made a nice adjustment at the beginning of the third quarter, and really ran the ball when they got the ball back there after our score. [They] ran the ball well from some different sets, different personnel groupings, a little bit differently than they had in the first half. And [Joe] Flacco really did a nice job. Give them credit, like I said. [He] did a nice job of hitting some things, and then he bought himself some time. There were chances where we had an opportunity to get him in the pocket, and just didn’t get it done. He’s a good player, we know that. He creates a lot of plays like that. Again, they executed better than we did, and they deserved to win because of it.”

(on the Ravens being mindful of how the Broncos had dominated in the second half) “It doesn’t surprise me that they’re very aware of that. John does a great job of coaching this team. I’m sure that kickoff return right there really threw some life into them, not that they needed it. But, to really start the second half of the game against a team that had done well in the second half for the most part the whole entire season, that was disappointing on our end. Probably gave them a lot of energy.”

(on what he thought of Ravens RB Ray Rice) “The same thing I thought about him before we played him. He’s a really good football player, really good back, hard to bring to the ground. We probably missed more tackles against Ray Rice than we’ve missed in a while. He does that to you with his style of running: He’s low to the ground and hard to get down. [We’ve] got to do a better job of tackling and wrapping him up, because he showed today why he’s a great player in this league.”

(on if he has any updates on T Ryan Harris’ injury) “I do not. I do not have any report in terms of the overall thing. We’re going to see how that… We’re going to do some tests and all that.”

(on if he was preparing himself for a loss that would be coming at some point) “It’s hard to go through the season and not lose one. Certainly we don’t go into any week thinking that’s what’s going to happen. It’s very disappointing. I’m disappointed in myself, disappointed in the way our team played today. I think we’re a better football team than that. But again, you’re only as good as you play, and we didn’t play very well today.”

(on if it concerns him that the breakdowns were everywhere) “Any mistake is concerning, obviously. We’ve said, and again, this is always one of those things where you face a little adversity with a loss, and then you realize that maybe some of the things that you thought were good enough just aren’t good enough. Even the things that you feel like you’re doing well after a loss become more glaring, and you really take the time to evaluate what you are good at, and what you’re not good at. Some of the things that you think that you’re pretty strong in those areas, you need to address those and become stronger. Because, obviously, what matters the most is how you’re playing at the end of the season, not in September. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we can get better.”

(on if he split time between CBs Jack Williams and Alphonso Smith because of reps) “We were playing them both. Going into the game, they both practiced at that spot, just moved some guys around. Again, there are some times where the coverage was very good early in the play, and then all of a sudden we’d lose contain in the pass rush, and their guy ends up with the ball, or somebody else’s guy ends up with the ball. It looked like the coverage was poor, but we had some breakdowns in our pass rush as well as our coverage. Whenever you have breakdowns in both of those areas, it’s not very good.”

(on if Ravens QB Joe Flacco is about as good of a second-year quarterback as he’s seen) “It’s hard to say that in terms of everybody, but I think he’s a very good football player. He’s a good quarterback. [He] made a lot of tough plays under duress today, you know. He has shown the ability to do that before, it didn’t surprise us that he was tough to get down in the pocket. [He] doesn’t easily give up on plays. This guy is a lot like the guy we’re going to get ready to play this coming week [Ben Roethlisberger] in that there’s not much ‘give up’ in Joe Flacco. He showed the ability to keep some plays alive, and really hurt us.”

(on how much the running game has made Flacco better) “Anytime you have a good running game, that makes life easier on the quarterback, because if you’ve got to bring an extra guy down there to defend the running game, then I think that opens some things up in the passing game. They’ve got a good football team all around. We’re not talking about a team that’s a one-man band, or one of two guys are carrying this team. That’s a really good football team over there in the other locker room that played much better than we did today, coached better than we did today, and deserved to win.”

QB Kyle Orton

(on the Ravens’ defense) “We didn’t play our best ball. They’re a very good team. They beat us good today on all sides of the ball. We just didn’t really do a whole lot.”

(on trying to go deep) “Offensively, everybody has to play better, myself included. I’m the leader of this offense, and when it doesn’t go right, it’s on me, so we’ll go back to work and make sure we get things fixed for next week.”

(on getting first downs) “We talked all week about winning first down and second down and getting into third-and-manageable, and we had a couple of third-and-short distances, and we didn’t execute first down. As the game wore on, we were sitting on second-and-long and third-and-long, and when you’re playing that kind of defense, when they dial up all of the blitzes, you’re going to be in for a long day.”

(on being sacked on the first play of the game) “That’s not the way you want to start the game for sure, but we had a number of plays, its not just one play. We had a number of plays we didn’t execute and a number of plays where they were just better than us. That’s just how it went to bed.”

(on the vulnerability of the Ravens’ secondary) “They played the safeties pretty deep and we’re always looking for things to take our shots. They were playing the safeties pretty deep. We tried to work inside on the linebackers but didn’t have too much success doing that. We tried throwing outside and didn’t have too much success doing that as well. So really not a good day for us, a good day for them, they were a better team today. We’ll come back and play better next week.”

(on Tyler Polumbus filling in for Ryan Harris) “He played fine, he came in, did his job. But just all around offensively, we didn’t play our game. We didn’t execute, we got beat by a better defense today.”

(on Coach McDaniels being hard on him in the loss, compared to being hard on the wins) “Well, we’re going to find out a lot about our team. And I know the type of guys we have in this locker room, we’ll come back to work extremely hard, we’ll play better on Monday. It is going to be a grind this week and we’ll get back to work. I can’t wait to get back on the field and get back at it.”

S Brian Dawkins

(on the difference in the game) “The Ravens did a better job of executing down the stretch. I know Coach Harbs [John Harbaugh] from my time in Philadelphia, and I knew they would be well-prepared. He does a great job preparing teams. Sometimes, you just have to give the other team credit, and they deserve a lot of credit for the way they played.“

(on the way the Ravens converted on third down) “We were ready for the stuff they like to do. We knew what to expect. They just beat us on execution.”

(on exchanging jerseys with Ed Reed) “We agreed to exchange jerseys after the game. I always try to do that when I play against guys that I respect.”

(on the way Joe Flacco played) “He was the quarterback we were expecting to play. He’s a big, tough guy, and he won’t back down. He has a lot of heart and a lot of courage. There aren’t many young quarterbacks who have the composure to take hits and deliver the ball on time. He is always calm, no matter what the situation is. He is someone a team can follow.”

(on how the Broncos will react to their first loss) “You always hear players say, ‘we’ll have to look at the film,’ but most of us know where we messed up. Now, we just go back to practice and work on correcting our mistakes. I’ve lost games before. Everyone on this team has lost before. The goal is to learn from this game and move forward.”

(on the Broncos’ vision for the season) “All I say is that next week we want to be 1-0. That’s how you do it in this league. We don’t look ahead to anyone. Besides, it would be very foolish to look past Pittsburgh.”

(on whether the Ravens were desperate for a win) “I don’t think that had any effect on the game. If they were 6-0 and we were 3-3, the result may have been the same. That’s something that you guys [media] and the fans talk about, but it didn’t have any impact on the game.”

LB Mario Haggan

(on losing to the Ravens) “To lose like this, it’s very hard to take. But the Ravens outplayed us in every phase of the game. They made more plays than we did and they deserved to win. We have to give them credit and move on to our next game.”

(on next week’s game) “For the first time, we are facing adversity, so we will find out what we’re made of. We don’t have a lot of time to dwell on this game because we have a huge game coming up against the World Champion Steelers.”

(on the way Joe Flacco played) “We knew he was tough, and we knew he’s a hard guy to tackle. He is big and tall and tough, and he moves around well. There were a few times I thought we had him, and he would escape and complete a pass. He made a lot of plays for them, and that’s why they won.”

ILB Andra Davis

(on the defense) “We have to go back to work. Who said we’d go 16-0? So we have to go back to work tomorrow, watch the tape and learn from our mistakes. We have a huge game next week against Pittsburgh on Monday night at our home so we have to go to work.”

(on things to focus on) “Everything. Everything that gave us problems today. We’re going to focus on what we did well also. So we have a lot of work to do.”

(on the upcoming Monday night game) “Monday, Thursday, Sunday – it doesn’t matter. We just have to come back and play better ball.”

S Renaldo Hill

(on the Ravens offensive performance) “They did a good job. They were well-prepared for this ball game and well-coached. They did a good job today. They executed what they needed to do in order to win the game. I tip my hat to them, but we’re going to get back to the drawing board and learn from this.”

(on what he takes from this loss) “I felt guys continued to play even though they were able to run the ball at the end. Everyone still gave 110 percent. That’s one of the things that we’ll have to watch the film because I’m sure there are a lot of things to learn from. And I definitely think it will make us a better ball club.”

(on the third quarter kickoff return) “It doesn’t matter. We know things are going to happen in the game, and we continue to fight. We always find a way to create something on our end. We just didn’t create enough on our end today. It definitely helped them out.

DE Elvis Dumervil

(on Ravens’ offense) “The offensive line played very well. And [Joe Flacco] had great poise in the pocket. He was able to scramble and keep the play alive. Give them credit, they went out and were the better team today.”

(on whether the Ravens were more desperate to win) “I don’t call it desperate. I’m sure they wanted to win as much as we wanted to win. They were the better team today and they won. We have to bounce back and get ready for Pittsburgh.”

(on the defense being unable to get off the field) “They did a good job of making short third-down distances. So they were able to not be one-dimensional. That was difficult. So we have to do a better job on the early downs.”

WR Jabar Gaffney

(on the first loss of the season) “I don’t like it. I don’t think nobody likes it and that should push us harder, so that we’ll never feel like this again.”

(on running the 2 minute offense at the end of the game) “We’re not going to quit. I mean, there’s time on the clock. We still have to play. No matter how far down or up, we still got to play.”

(on the offense being one dimensional) “I don’t really think we became one dimensional until that last 2 minute drive. We stayed with our offense. They just had a heck of a game plan for us defensively and we just have to go back to work and get better.”

(on the Ravens game plan) “I mean the way they got pressure, they did a great job.”

(on the offense) “We just didn’t execute. We put ourselves in some bad situations, long yardage situations. That’s not the way to beat this team. You can’t get behind in down and distance.”

(on playing Pittsburgh next week) “They’re a great team. They’re coming off a bye so they’ll be well-prepared, and we’re coming off a big loss, a very bad loss, and we don’t want to feel like this again.”

RB Knowshon Moreno

(on his first pro loss) “When you lose, it’s not a good feeling. It definitely hurts. They played a really good game, and we have to rebound and come back next week. Play our ‘A’ game.”

(on the Ravens’ defense) “They’re a good team. They played a real good game. They made more plays than us and came out with the victory. That’s all you can really say about it.”

(on the Broncos running game) “They [the Ravens] just played their ‘A’ game. We didn’t come out and do our part. That’s part of the game. We’ve got to readjust and come back and play a really good team next week.”

RB Correll Buckhalter

(on the Broncos’ offense) “We didn’t sustain any drives. We didn’t put drives together. We didn’t play complimentary football today. We just got out and played today. They’re a good team and they outplayed us. We have no excuses. We have to regroup and prepare for Pittsburgh.”

(on next week playing Pittsburgh) “We have to play complimentary football. The offense has to help out the defense, and the defense has to help out the offense. When you don’t play complimentary football, you’re going to have days like this. None of us showed up today. We didn’t do our job.”

(on being 6-1 this season) “Anything can happen. It’s a long season. It’s important that you take it just one game at a time. Anything can happen. That’s the approach we’re taking, and we’re going to continue to take that approach.”

BALTIMORE RAVENS

Head Coach John Harbaugh

(opening statement) “On behalf of all of us, I want to thank the fans. The fans got rolling today. It was good to be in our stadium. Those two purple walls – on the side and in the end zone, when they got cranked up and our defense was on the field against that Denver offense which had been so effective all year, it made a difference. From the coaches perspective, I want to congratulate the players. The players won this game. The players playing fundamental Ravens football – good, solid, tough football, getting after the quarterback on defense, coverage on the back end, running the football, protecting the quarterback [Flacco], going 14-for-14 at the end, not making mistakes, making great decisions, operating the offense, running backs running hard – that’s what football is. Special teams were off the charts. Congratulations to those guys our there. We said in the second half we wanted to come out and start fast. We wanted to take the ball down the field and score. We just didn’t necessarily know it was going to be on the kickoff return, and that’s a credit to those guys. It was really a three-phase victory from beginning to end, and I’m really proud of everybody that was a part of this.”

(on seeing the defense start fast) “We have good players. It was fun to see them be able to do some things that they’ve been working hard to try and get done. Starting fast is always a priority. You don’t always have an opportunity to do that, but we did that today.”

(on containing the Broncos WR Eddie Royal) “Every time he got the ball in his hands, I think everybody in this room – at least everybody who’s a Ravens fan, had their heart in their throat because that’s the kind of player he is. But our guys smothered him, and it was just great coverage. [Special Teams Coordinator] Jerry Rosburg and [Assistant Special Teams Coach] Marwan Maalouf did a great job with putting a plan together and just teaching fundamentals. But our guys played good fundamentals, and they were very physical. So that was good to see.”

(on the Ravens physical intensity in this game) “We’ve had tremendous physical intensity in every game. So yes, it played a huge part in this game, and this is a physical game. This is a physical team, an emotionally dominant defensive team. [They have] a very physical offensive line. So it was a physical game. But that’s not to say we weren’t physical in the last three games or the last six games either. So that has to be a part of who we are as a team and it was there today.”

(on if the Ravens were a few penalty flags away from a shutout) “I’ll have to think about that. That’s a good question. I thought the coverage was good, including on that play.”

(on if this game was more intense than any other this season) “I couldn’t say that. That’s a fair question. We carried it to a successful outcome better, if that makes any sense. I think we applied it better. We’ve had that kind of intensity in every single game that we’ve played. We made fewer mistakes. We made more right plays, right decisions, and it resulted in good plays.”

(on winning the one-on-one battles up front) “That’s a good point. I’d say that we won more one-on-one battles today than we’ve won in the past week [last game]. So offensive line-wise we won a bunch of one-on-one battles. Denver is just relentless in the pass rush, and I thought our offensive line did a tremendous job in winning one-on-one battles. That was going to be the bottom line. Defensive line, outside linebackers won all the pass rush one-on-one battles and a lot of run game one-on-one battles. It was probably the key to the game.”

(on the Ravens secondary) “I’m happy with the way they played. I’ve been happy with the way they’ve tried to play all year, but I thought we played with great, fundamental discipline and attention to detail and it paid off.”

(on if this is as well as the Ravens have played in his tenure) “I haven’t thought about that. It’s a fair question. I don’t know. I have to think about that, see the tape and make a decision.”

(on Ray Rice) “I’ve said this before, but we knew Ray was a good tackle type of runner at Rutgers because that’s what he did. I don’t think anyone knew all of his other skills that he had. Ray’s probably a better player than we even thought when we drafted him, so he’s really a complete running back.”

(on the offense in the second half) “I think Joe was 14-for-14 in the last 14 throws, 80 percent in the second half, is that what it was? I’m sure that Joe could get up here and elaborate on all the ins and outs of it, not that he would, necessarily. I thought that our guys…Specifically, we spread them out. We went a lot of no-huddle in the second half. So we kept some of the [Denver defensive] players on the field maybe more than they wanted. They weren’t able to substitute as much as they normally do. I think the tempo was really fast. But the bottom line was, we executed. We blocked people, and we ran the ball hard. We didn’t turn it over. We threw completions. Our guys caught the ball and ran it. Just fundamental football.”

(on what this win says about the team effort) “I said this before, I think our team has the heart of a lion. We’ve said that before. It was there last week, and we didn’t come up with a way to win. It was there two weeks ago, and it was there three weeks ago, but we didn’t come up with a way to win. It was there today, and we played better, coached better, and found a way to win against a very good football team. Now that’s behind us and we have big challenge in front of us this week. Our goal, really, is to go 1-0 again. That’s what we have to do.”

(on the Ravens third-down conversions and the play of WR Kelley Washington) “Kelley’s been great all year. I don’t know what his throw-to-catch ratio is, but it’s up there. It’s off the charts. The key to anything offensively, is third-down conversions. The fact that we were able to keep them on the field past the third play and make them play a fourth play, and then make them play a seventh or an eighth play – I thought our offense did a great job of that.”

(on Haloti Ngata) “[Head trainer] Bill [Tessendorf] told me he’d let me know after he looks at it here, so we’ll see.”

(on if he was surprised Denver didn’t throw downfield) “I thought they stuck to their plan really well. I think they have a nice way they win. Their method is very effective, and they stuck to it throughout the game.”

QB Joe Flacco

(on the win) “I think we know what kind of team we have and we know that we are capable of doing this kind of thing. We know that we have to come out here and play hard. There’s a lot of weeks, a lot of games left in the season and for us not to come out here and play hard would be pretty embarrassing. I think it’s our job, and I think we do a good job of doing it. We had chances to win other games and today we finished well, and that’s why we won.”

(on execution) “I don’t think the execution was bad in the last couple weeks. If you’re ever going to win a football game in the NFL, you got to play hard, play all 60 minutes, and it’s still tough and that’s happened the last three weeks. We played hard, we executed, and we just didn’t come out with the wins. Other teams executed too, and that’s their job. I think this week we were able to come out here and play with a good tempo, get off to a good start in the second half, and we kind of just ran with it from there.”

(on third-down offense) “We always have focus on converting third downs and keeping drives going, but we knew coming in that they were a good third-down team and they were a good second half team and that was our goal, just like it is any week, to be a good third-down converting team. I’ve been saying, we’ve been good all year. There’s times where we’ve been a little inconsistent, we’ve had games where we’ve been really good, and we’ve had games where we’ve been average and it was good to see that we came out and played really well on third down and kept those drives going. It makes a big difference when you can keep a defense on the field for a long time rather than three, four, five plays a series and let them have all the energy in the world.”

(on the Broncos second half adjustments) “We wanted to come out and set the tempo the second half. That’s why we kind of came out, no huddle, and tried to run a little two minute offense and just set the tempo from that standpoint to see how they reacted to it, and I think we did a good job. We went down there and we really put a scoring drive together, and we kind of got called with a penalty and backed us up. We ended up kicking a field goal and got a couple points out of it but the other thing that started us off quickly was Lardarius [Webb] breaking that opening kickoff for a touchdown. It gave us a lot of momentum, and we just kept it going.”

(on the offensive line’s play) “Our offensive line did a great job, and they’ve done a great job all year, they’ve done a great job since I’ve been here so I didn’t expect any differently. I knew I had to stand in there strong and just react to what they were giving me and hit the guys down field.”

(on Derrick Mason’s touchdown) “I don’t know. It seemed pretty open to me. If [the touchdown] was the end result, then that was the only place I could’ve put the ball, but they dropped a safety down and soon as they did that, I knew where I was going. Mase [Derrick Mason] did a great job beating him on the outside, and I just had to really put it in there and let him do the rest.”

(on making tough plays) “I think that’s part of our game sometimes. That’s what you have to do on third down. That’s what you got to do against this kind of defense. When they’re going to drop, and they’re going to cover guys, you got to be able to make plays that aren’t necessarily written up the way they are supposed to be made. We did a good job of doing that a couple times today and when we’ve done that, Kelley’s [Kelley Washington] done a good job of finding the hole in the defense and making a play for us. So, we were successful doing it today. So hopefully as the season goes on, we can make the plays the way they’re supposed to be made more often so we don’t have to do that stuff.”

(on importance of the win to the team) “It definitely feels much better to get a win. The last three weeks, even though we were close and we felt like we played really well, it’s tough when you have to go back on Monday and watch yourself lose. It definitely felt good sitting on the sideline today knowing that we were coming away with the win.

WR Derrick Mason

(on coming out and performing a strong second half) “We understood that they were a second half team. In all their games, they played lights out in the second half. And that’s what you want in your defense; keep it close in the first half, and in the second half come out and just shut the offense down. And we knew that coming in, so we wanted to make sure that we came out in the second half with all guns firing. It started off with [Lardarius Webb’s] kickoff return for the touchdown, and I think it just kind of snowballed after that. We gained the momentum right after halftime and we just kept it.”

(on this being a big win after losing three straight previously) “A building block. You know, we just need to continue to play from here. No game is bigger than the other; unless we go to the Super Bowl.”

(on whether they got down after losing three straight) “No. We just kept playing. In this business, you can’t get down. You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. It’s got to be even keel, and we understood why we were on a three game losing streak – at the end, we just didn’t make the plays that we needed to make at the end of the game. We were in the games, but we just didn’t make the plays.”

(on the Bengals and Steelers hoping they were going to go away today) “We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to keep on fighting, keep on scrapping, because that’s the type of team we are. And we’ll let it play out, that’s all. There are a lot of good teams in this division.”

(on what they were able to do to penetrate a very good Denver defense) “Convert on third down. They held teams, I think maybe they had two or three, second half first downs on them. And we were able to sustain drives on them. So, I think the key thing we did was make sure on third down, [that] it was third and manageable, and then capitalize on the third downs.”

(on whether he was offered an explanation on the unsportsmanlike penalty call) “It was a blatant holding. He’s watching me – that’s the only person that’s watching me – and he said he didn’t see it. That’s like me watching my kid at a play ground, and they run out in the street and get hit, and I tell my wife and family that I wasn’t watching my son. You’re the only person there watching him, so why aren’t you watching him? But, I mean, it’s all good. After 13 years I guess you still don’t get the respect that you sometimes think you deserve.”

(on whether the ref told him that he missed the holding call) “Yeah, he told me he didn’t see it. He said he didn’t see it, so I can only go off of what he said. We’re all human, we all miss calls, so I don’t worry about it and I just keep going.”

LB Ray Lewis

(on how he’s feeling after getting a win against an undefeated Broncos’ team, after losing three straight before that) “Bottom line, in an off week, we went back and corrected those small things. You know, whether it was a catch, or a missed field goal, or just not making a defensive stop. Those three games that we did lose, we lost in the last drive, bottom line. So, you could be 6-0, you could be 3-3, or you can hold your head down. And the bottom line is we wanted to come out and just play our tempo. Just let go, offensively, special teams and defensively. I just think overall, we just came out and did a great job today. Their defense came in the best in the business right now, not giving up this, not giving up that. So, it’s always little small challenges inside that you say, ‘We’re still who we are.’ And I think overall as a team, we played a great game today.”

(on what the emotion was when WR Derrick Mason got called for an unsportsmanlike penalty) “We got you. We got you. Do what you do. You watch the film, the same flag that they called on me in the end zone is the same flag that happened on Mase. It’s amazing [that] one called one and no one called the other. Bottom line, we just need to keep playing football. Let the refs take care of themselves, let the refs take care of the game and let’s just keep playing. That’s what a lot of defensive players went over and told Mase; ‘It doesn’t matter. We will get you back the ball real quickly.’ And it’s a good rhythm we have on the sideline.”

(on whether that is a big difference because of all the flags that were thrown) “It doesn’t matter if you get flags. Just play football. Yeah, you get emotional, yeah you get mad when somebody doesn’t make a call, but the bottom line [is] you can’t affect it after it’s done. So, just keep playing football, and I think we’ve done a great job of continuing to play through it.”

(on how much LB Jarret Johnson’s sack set the tone out of the gate) “I think more than that, you kind of need to give more credit to Greg Mattison, you know, who drew up the game plan for that. As players, we’re going to go execute it, but the way he drew up that game plan and the way our defense disguised it, they never saw him. He slid the line a total opposite way and that’s the kind of thing about us – accepting the call, disguising it the right way and then you get a big play to start the game off. I just think it was huge, definitely on Coach Mattison’s part.”

(on today’s win being more special because Denver was undefeated) “24-hour rule. Bottom line. We’ll go celebrate this tonight, do whatever you’re going to do. I’m going to spend some good quality time with my family. But, after that, you’ve got to come back to work. We have the [Cincinnati] Bengals next week – they had a week off – we know they’re going to be really, really excited about seeing us coming in there, trying to go two up on us in the division. And the bottom line is, we understand what’s in front of us. So, it’s our duty to understand that you take a win just like a loss. I say it all the time. Accept it, deal with what it is and move on. And that’s what we need to do.”

(on Coach Harbaugh stressing the importance of coming out strong in the second half) “We do, man. We do. Forget me taking credit for anything. Lardarius Webb is somebody that I’ve been touching and agreeing with for a long time. And before we walk out of here, I’ll let him tell that story one day, when he wants to tell that story; the conversation we had before he ran that kick back. But, when you believe in each other, it’s something special. And for him to come out and do that – opening up the third quarter – that was huge. Because once you’re playing from behind, it’s going to be a hard time catching up to us.”

OLB Jarret Johnson

(on if this is the biggest game of his career) “I don’t know about that, but I made some plays. There are some areas, some mistakes I made. I don’t know if it’s the biggest game of my career. If I would have caught that [potential interception], maybe.”

(on how did it feel to get first sack of game) “That’s always important, especially early when the crowd is into it. If a guy can make a play early, it will get them more jacked up. You can say what you want, but it [the crowd] has an effect on the visiting team. To get a free run, a long run at the quarterback, it was a good shot for a defensive player.”

(on did the whole game seem more intense) “Yeah, anytime you’re playing an opponent like that, they’re [Denver] a real good football team. They’ve got a lot of weapons. There was definitely a lot of emotion on the sideline, a lot of checks – watch this, watch that. There’s so many guys on the field. It’s not like one guy you have to shut down. We’ve got a lot of weapons. There’s a lot of communication going on the sideline – changes and stuff like that. So yeah, it was intense.”

(on what does it say to beat them [Denver] the way you did) “We needed that win. We needed that win. To lose the way we’ve lost the last three games and the way we’ve played defensively for the three losses. I think we needed to have a big time opponent and play big versus them. We did that today. I thought we had a great game plan, we were very multiple. We moved around and did some things, even on first and second down. I thought we played really well today.”

(on how big is this for the defense’s confidence) “That’s huge, confidence is a big thing. We haven’t made a lot of changes, as far as personnel on defense. It’s the same guys out there. When you have the same group of guys not playing well, you’re looking around saying – am I the problem. So you start to wonder. And its huge to come out after a bye week and work on the things we’ve worked on, get some rest and play a really good opponent and play well.”

(on what was the key in stopping the Bronco’s offense) “I think you’ve got to mix it up. You’ve got to understand your keys, where different guys align. They take Brandon Marshall, who could be one of the best receivers in the NFL, and they move him all over the place. You’ve got to know where he’s going to be. Not only him, their running backs – they’ve got several guys who can run really good routes on the inside. They’re tougher, bigger guys to defend. But you’ve got to mix it up, you’ve got to be multiple and we did that today.”

(on do you think if they set the tone as being the most physical team) “Yeah, we’re always to do that. Obviously, we got the big shot on the quarterback early. We stopped the screen play, which is tough to do, especially a tight end screen the way they ran it. From there on out… Ed’s [Reed] big hit on the running back, I don’t know if it was [Correll] Buckhalter or [Knowshon] Moreno. It really sets your tempo and lets them know what kind of game it’s going to be.”

RB Ray Rice

(on how good the win feels) “It’s special, it’s an emotional game. It was a game that we needed, especially coming off the bye week. To come out and play on all three phases the way we played, that was special. To watch our special teams emerge, to watch our defense step up, and to watch our offense, not just play a second half, but dominate the second half against a great defense. You know, that defense, give them credit. I think they only had two third-down conversions in the second half of their games. They’re a great team. But, a lot of emotions were played in this game, and that’s what the game is about. Give credit to our team, our offensive linemen, everybody did it today.”

(on if he thinks the Ravens showed they were better than 3-3) “Definitely. We’re a good football team, there’s not a doubt. Not to look back at last year, but last year, we were 2-3 at one point, and we overcame that. But if you look at this year’s team, and you look at last year’s team, we’re a totally different team. When our defense is hitting on all phases, it’s not a game where… Our offense is going to move and our special teams, when they’re playing their game, we’re going to be tough to beat. Other teams can’t just game plan for one thing for us. We’re a multi-dimensional team and it showed today – run, pass, everything.”

(on QB Joe Flacco side-stepping S Brian Dawkins) “I’ve been amazed at the kind of plays we’ve made. It was a called play, but for him to side step Dawkins, that’s a profound guy in this league. And he got it off. Joe [Flacco] is very comfortable back there. He’s very comfortable moving around, he moves around and that’s what great quarterbacks do. He’s in his second year, but he’s the leader of our offense. We go as Joe goes.”

(on if this game set the tone for the rest of the season) “Definitely. That bye came at the perfect time. We’ve had three games where we were just down and out. To come back ready to work before the bye week and then have days off to relax your mind and body. I woudn’t say you totally get away from the game of football, but get your body away from the game of football. To do what we did last week in practice, it all started in practice. The scout team was out there, give them credit, our scout team definitely tore us up in practice. If we’re seeing that in practice, when we get out to the game, give them credit, they make plays on our defense. Our scout team defense, coming in the backfield, making plays… this is the same thing we’ve seen already during the week. So we were prepared to go out there and play. It was a great job coming out ready to work.”

WR Kelley Washington

(on the Ravens’ offense) “We had a really good couple weeks of practice, and the coaches did a good job of breaking those guys down. We knew exactly what they were going to do in the game, and it was all about execution. We were able to go out there and make plays in all phases of the game. We really put together a good team performance.”

(on matching up with Denver’s DBs) “We scouted their team, and they have very small defensive backs, especially their nickel backs. Anytime I go into a game, knowing that a DB is smaller than me, I really like to take advantage of that. Joe [Flacco] was able to find me throughout the game and make big plays. It’s just a matter of reading their defense and making a play.”

(on the importance of the game) “This was a big stress-reliever. It was a tough two weeks, knowing that we could’ve won the games that we lost. It’s going to be good to come in on Monday and know that we won the game. Now we need to have a good week of practice, and it’s on to the next game. That’s life in the NFL.”

(on his relationship with Joe Flacco) “I just take pride in being a guy that’s going to go out there and make plays for him. Throughout the week, we do a great job of preparing. That’s the biggest thing, is having a relationship with your quarterback, a guy that can trust you on key downs. I’ve learned that throughout the years that players that do that are the ones that go on and succeed.”

(on converting third downs) “One of them was a broken play, and I was just another outlet for [Joe Flacco]. He does a good job when the play breaks down, being able to go look for a play. Those are big plays because they call a great defense, and then we break their backs with a scramble play. He does a great job of looking downfield when it breaks down.”

S Ed Reed

(on if the Ravens made any changes defensively) “This was good time off for everybody, get away, get refreshed and come back with a different attitude. We were just able to play ball and let loose.”

(on S Brian Dawkins) “Seeing Brian and the longevity that he’s had, and to see him playing hard still, making plays. I’ve been watching him for a long time now, he was one of the players I looked up to, as a safety and as a man. Just the whole person that he is. I don’t know him too well personally. I know of him, I know the things he has done. He encouraged me, told me to keep playing, keep on doing what I do. It’s big, just being on the field with him. It’s an honor.”

(on his forced fumble) “It was just making a play, really. It was a pick play where they go after our linebacker, and it was my chance to free up, and I was in the right place at the right time.”

(on playing Ravens defense) “It’s just good for us to come out and do what we do. That’s what we’ve been doing over the past weeks. We have to be able to play tight defense no matter what we do. Give credit to our offense and special teams. There’s no one side of the ball that can go without the other.”

(on just missing blocking a punt) “I just rushed and got in there, and I flew past the guy. I felt it last night and this week, whenever Denver plays us at home, I feel like I can get one. I just overran it, and that’s just technique stuff.”

(on special teams) “We’ve prepared that way from the offseason. Our special teams guys do a great job. It’s a big sacrifice what those guys put into it. Guys like us get on it and show flash, but the core group of guys are the ones that work all the time.”

(on KR Lardarius Webb) “The guy let loose, he’s a football guy. He used to do it in college and high school.”

CB Domonique Foxworth

(on the defense) “It’s really hard in an ultimate team game to pick out one person or one unit to say this is why the team is so good or this is why the team is so bad. But today, we all stepped up. One of the things that Coach Harbaugh is saying is we’re the same team if we were 6-0, but we’re 3-3. It’s just we didn’t get some breaks, and today I think we created our own breaks. We still had some plays that didn’t go our way, we fought through and kept playing and played well the entire game.”

(on the difference in this game) “I don’t think there was much of a difference. I think we go into every week intense, and we expect to make plays every week and sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t, and I think it’s more on us studying and being prepared and stepping up when we get the chance. At times, we haven’t been stepping up so far this year. Today we did.”

(on where the good efforts came from) “It was top to bottom. You’re not always going to get that. But today we did. It’s a long season. We’ve got plenty of time back there. We’ve just got to be more consistent, and that’s what we did today.”

CB/RS Lardarius Webb

(on the team’s effort) “We were dialed in. We were so focused on every phase of the game, studying them. Going over things like, the small things this week, and as a rookie, it was my first time seeing them being so dialed in. We came out and showed it on the field. It was great.”

(on the team’s intensity) “They were so dialed in this week with our leaders, Ray and Ed, when you lose three straight, they step up. That’s how you know if you’ve got a strong locker room or a weak locker room. With our locker room, with Joe Flacco, with Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, hey, our locker room stayed together and we just stepped our game up, faced adversity and they came out and showed it today. It’s just a great team, and I love to be on this team.”

(on his kickoff return for a touchdown) “Everybody just got their man. I just saw a hole and ran as fast as I could. Like I said, we’ve been working all week on getting our man and staying on him for more than a second. This time, they got their man and stayed on them. So I just ran. It was a great job from them.”

(on his plans for tonight) “I’m just going to go home and chill and thank the Lord for such a great game from the team and sit back and chill. My first career touchdown in the NFL, it was great. I’m just going to go home and relax.”

LB Terrell Suggs

(on the opening sack by Jarret Johnson and how it set the tone) “They missed the protection, I guess they slid it the other way. Jarret came free and got us going right. It was really big. I don’t think we’ve ever started a game with a sack like that. It was just a big [play]. They didn’t see him coming. He came in free. It was a pretty good way to start the game.”

(on defensive coordinator Greg Mattison’s plan) “I think for all the heat that coach has been getting, he put together a pretty good package for the Broncos today. You’ve got to give credit to where credit is due. I think Coach Mattison did a good job of putting all of us in the right place and playing a good chess match today.”

(on bouncing back from three straight losses) “If anybody remembers their Ravens’ history, we lost three in a row last year. Then we just came out, we got it back to square one and we played a good complete game. That’s what we did today.”

(on where to go from here) “We have to look at the film. There’s always some things you can get better [at], some things that we probably messed up. We got off of that skid, now maybe we’ve got to get this thing to snowball.”