2010 Wildcard vs Eagles Post-Game Presser and Video

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OK, I’ll start off with our injuries. Donald Driver had a bruised knee. Just an overall outlook on the football game, I just want to congratulate the Philadelphia Eagles on a great year, we have so much respect for them as an organization and what Andy Reid has done here over the last decade. To come in here, into this environment, this is a big win for us. I’m very proud of our football team, the way we played in all three phases, coming down to the end there with the big turnover for our defense. So with that, I’ll take your questions.

(How confident were you in the defense coming through for you there at the end?)
Very confident; we talked about it all week, just the ability to keep them out of the end zone, they’re a big-play offense. I thought Dom really did a great job of sticking to the plan with the coverage and pressure, particularly there in the red area, with the amount of pressure he was able to bring with the red-zone blitz, keeping them out of the end zone. They’re an explosive offense, to hold them under 20, we felt very good about that. We would’ve like to had some [more] point production on offense, that’s always the case, but when we put 21 on the board, we’re very confident in our defense that we’re going to come out of there with a victory.

(What can you say about the performance of James Starks?)
James Starks is just a fine young man, a very talented young man and just hasn’t played a lot of football over the last two years and that’s really been the biggest challenge. Everybody knows his story, coming off of PUP and we’ve just been trying to get him ready. We had a couple of packages in the game plan today for running the football. He established a hot hand early, and I rode it. I’m very proud of him individually. It really speaks volumes about our offensive line, and I thought they did a very good job of playing on their side of the line of scrimmage and James did a good job of hitting the holes and running after the first hit and so forth. [He’s] a very talented young man and he’s got a lot of football in front of him.

(Did you know going in that this was going to be the kind of game where you had to be patient?)
Oh, absolutely. Just number one, look where we’re playing. We’re playing in Philadelphia, and it’s a credit to their organization, just the crowd noise and the atmosphere. We did a very good job with the communication, we didn’t have the pre-snap penalties, we didn’t handle the ball probably as well as we would’ve liked, with the two turnovers, but our communication was excellent today. We knew we were going to have to be patient, take what they gave us and they played us pretty conservatively from a pressure standpoint; third down was more their pressure down. They played a lot of quarters [coverage], they played a lot of patience with their defense, and we had to do the same thing. A couple conversions here, we would’ve probably had more production. This is a tough place to play, clearly one of the tougher places to play in the National Football League, in my opinion.

(Was this a milestone win for Aaron Rodgers given that he had been criticized for not winning a playoff game?)
That’s what you talk about, we don’t look at it that way and I think you know that. I don’t understand why we have to talk about that today, but we’re just getting started. This is the first round, we’ve established ourselves as a football team and we won a big football game here in Philadelphia against a championship-caliber program. We have the opportunity to go to Atlanta and we’re excited about playing a No. 1 seed down there. Aaron has got a lot of football left in front of him, he’s going to be playing for a long time and I think those conversations should be talked about at the end, in my opinion.

(Can you talk about the task of containing all of Philadelphia’s different playmakers?)
Well, you can’t take them all away and I’ll tell you, they’re dynamic. During the week of preparation, I was just very impressed because the statistics speak for themselves. Their ability to run the ball, and you’ve just got to keep Michael contained and that’s hard. He caught us a couple of times in a four-man rush and was able to get out of the pocket and he’s so dangerous with the ball when he gets in space. They did a good job of blocking us up with the seven- and eight-man protections, and going with the two vertical down-the-field routes. I thought it was a well-coached game, I thought schematically there were a lot of challenges out there, and I’m sure from your standpoint it was probably a heck of a game to watch.

(How were you guys able to sustain the longer drives tonight and can you talk about your ability to consistently convert third downs on those drives?)
Well frankly, that’s the way we like to play and I think you have to be able to play that way in the NFL to win over the long term. We have individuals in our offense that can make big-strike plays and we have a quarterback that can stretch the field and make all of the throws. But to win week-in and week-out, you’ve got to have the combination of run and pass. That was our plan obviously coming in here today; we have confidence in the third-and-five, -six, -seven range with our pass protection. We feel that’s a strength of what we do, to be able to handle multi-scheme pressure schemes like Philadelphia has and the ability to keep your defense off the field, especially playing against an offense like that. Our plan was to come in here and try to establish the run, play in favorable down-and-distance, have the patience and take our shots when we can.

(Can you talk more about the contribution of Starks today?)
I haven’t seen the final statistics, but I know he was the hot hand. When I call plays, I watch the line of scrimmage and the quarterback’s feet and that tells me about as much as I need to know during the series as far as what’s going on out there and you’re able to gain a lot of information there. James was a difference-maker; he was a difference-maker for us just the way he was running the ball. He’s a gifted athlete, he’s a longer-levered individual and he falls forward, and I just love running backs that fall forward, especially when they’re 6-2, so that’s a big part of his success.

(How big of a strength is Aaron’s ability to buy time and move in and out of the pocket?)
I’m probably biased, but I think Aaron Rodgers is probably as good in-and-out-of-the pocket quarterback as there is in football today. His ability to play in the pocket, trusting his footwork, the time clock, the ability to come out of the pocket to buy time, that’s Aaron’s strength. And on top of that, as I’ve already stated, he has the arm strength to make all of the throws. It gives you a lot of versatility as a play-caller and as an offensive schemer when you have a quarterback right now with his experience, playing as well as he is. He’s a special player.

(What have been the biggest differences that you’ve seen in your defense this year versus last year?)
There are a number of factors and we’ve talked about this time and time again. The second year into a system is so important, just number one, the communication is so much better. The second part is, you’re really streamlining the concepts; you have a better understanding of what individuals can handle certain things, what their strengths are and areas to stay away from. We’ve had so much change on defense, but we’ve been able to stay true, conceptually, to the things we do best. As far as statistically, our adversity defense is so much better than last year, our red-zone defense is so much better than last year, and those were our number one and two points of emphasis coming out of the offseason evaluations. So when you’re able to go through that, spend the time in training camp and you see it show up during the course of the year, that’s what you like to see. We’re playing very good defense, particularly the scoring defense.

(What had you seen in Starks over the last few weeks that made you feel like you could go to him so much today?)
It’s hard, and it’s a juggling act because we have so much faith in Brandon Jackson, and John Kuhn has done very well in packages. Dimitri Nance really hasn’t had as much opportunity, but he has given us a spark here and there. But with James, everybody recognizes the talent, the ability, and he has a chance to be a big-time player in our offense. He just doesn’t have the experience. I think everybody understands the schedule; it’s hard to go back to training camp and OTAs and all of the things that he missed due to his injury and catch him up to speed on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It’s just a little different, and we’ve tried to give him packages each week and every opportunity he has been given, he’s done a pretty good job.

(Having won these last two games by such close margins, does that give you extra confidence going forward in those types of games here in the playoffs?)
You have to win the close games in the playoffs. We knew we were going to come in here and we knew it was going to be a 60-minute fight. We spent so much time on the overtime rules this week, I thought, ‘Heck, we might as well go into overtime too.’ This is the way it’s going to be; we’re on the road, you play uphill when you get off the bus and you have to overcome the atmosphere that you’re playing in, particularly the communication challenge, and it feels good.

(How important was it to respond with that long drive in the third quarter to try to slow down their momentum following your turnover?)
It was very important. I think it was evident to everybody that the momentum really swung in their direction. The crowd was really into it, and we’d had the two long drives there in the first half, but it was very important for us to respond. More importantly, we were playing with the wind and that was a focus of mine just from a play-selection standpoint. To lose a series like that and have it taken away from you, it was something that we didn’t want to get into and they responded. That drive was very important because the wind was going to the Eagles there in the fourth quarter.

(How surprised were you on the ruling on the two-point conversion and is that something you think will be reviewed by the Competition Committee in the offseason?)
I’m just glad we got it right and I think everybody feels that way. Just talking to the officials on the sideline, I’m just glad we got it right. No one wants to be talking about it for a week after the game; coaches, players, officials all included. I thought they did a good job of stopping it, and getting it right. I’m not sure what will happen with the Competition Committee, I’m just focused on Atlanta right now.

(Will you have a chance to enjoy this win or do you have to immediately re-focus on Atlanta because of the short week?)
We started Thursday night on Atlanta, just because you have to from a preparation standpoint. For me personally, I’ll watch Atlanta on the bus ride and on the plane ride home because tomorrow is our game plan day. I think this is going to have to be one of those ones where after the season is over you look back on it.

(What was the thought process that went into rotating different guys as your kickoff returner?)
Well, we’re not quite sold on one yet, to be honest. We’re working ourselves through a couple of things back there with Sam [Shields], and that’s definitely something James [Starks] does very well, and I thought Patrick [Lee] did a good job last week, so we’re just kind of working our way through that.

(Are drops becoming too regular of a problem for James Jones?)
In fairness to James, he clearly had the obvious opportunity right there before the half that would’ve put it to [21-3], but he has a thumb that he’s dealing with, but he’ll fight through it, he’s a warrior and he takes great care of his body. But he’ll be the first one to tell you that he needs to make that catch.

(Were you guys trying to kick that last punt out of bounds to keep it away from DeSean Jackson?)
It depends where you are on the field, obviously kicking into the wind factors, but we weren’t real excited about giving him too many opportunities punting the ball. I think that was evident with us trying to get the ball out of bounds, but field position was at a premium there and we needed to cover that last punt. We were able to get the holding on the return which obviously helped.

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(On Starks)
That was huge the way that James Starks ran the ball tonight. It was maybe the most important factor in us winning. He set up some of the play action that we did. His second and ten run there in the second quarter was a thirty yard run. He ran great. I'm so happy for him. He's a great kid. He's really grown up a lot the last couple weeks and he was big tonight.

(Did you think you'd have that much success running the ball tonight)
No, I didn't to be honest.

(Did you think it was going to come down to a lot more passing tonight)
I thought I was going to have to play a good game and be efficient and do a good job on third downs which we did a pretty good job. I thought we may have a few more passing attempts but the way James was running we just stuck with it.

(Is he the running back you've been looking for all season)
Ryan Grant is the running back we've been missing all year but James has stepped up and did a nice job. You've got to give credit to John Kuhn, Brandon Jackson and Dimitri Nance for the way they've run the ball this year but Coach has gone with the hot guy and the hot guy today was James. He did a great job.

(Talk about how you picked up the blitzes and how effective you were)
Scotty did a good job with the declarations and with the adjustments. I think it was a pretty good communication game tonight. That's the most important thing when you're playing a defense like that with so many moving pieces and different blitzes they can bring. We did a nice job of picking them up and being efficient passing the ball.

(Was it nice to get that first playoff win)
In all my time of being a football fan I've never seen a player win a game all by himself so it's a good team win for us and I'll let you guys write what you want on that.

(Did you know the defense was going to make that stop on that last drive and what was going through your mind)
I think everybody in the stadium held their breath when DeSean caught that ball. Being a former Cal player and watching DeSean and following his career and seeing the run he had that really got his team in the playoffs against the Giants when Tim punted that ball in the air I think everyone was just hoping that somebody was going to tackle him and when he had another big catch on that drive. He's explosive. That teams explosive. Thankfully Tramon came up with a big play for us like he's done all season. He's been a pro bowl player. Unfortunately he didn't get the nod but he's played incredible one on one coverage this season and I'm not surprised he made a play like that.

(What was the emotion like right after that interception)
A lot of relief. It's a tough position as a quarterback and really anybody on the sidelines to not be able to have an impact on that play and just hoping our defense comes up with a stop.

(Has the way the defense has played this year taken the pressure off of you)
I think so. That plus when you have James Starks running for 123 yards that takes some pressure off the passing game. That's unexpected. The defense playing as well as they have you don't want to take it for granted but it's kind of been expected the last few weeks. They've played excellent kept us in the game and we're moving on.

(After the way last year ended how does this feel)
It feels good. It was disappointing to lose the last game like we did last year but there's a lot of resilient guys in that locker room and guys that believe in each other. A lot of guys who've stepped up and we didn't expect a lot of things from i.e. James Starks tonight. We've had a number of contributions from men who at the beginning of the season were not expected to play big roles for us. I think that says what kind of character we have in that locker room.

(During the first game against Atlanta it went down to the end. Can you talk about the rematch. Do you guys feel your better)
It's a tough place to play. Matt has been excellent playing there and won a ton of game. I think he's only lost twice in his time there. It's a tough environment, very loud. They're a very good team, very well coached on both sides of the ball. Obviously that's one that we're disappointed about. We were on a bit of a roll there and I fumbled inside the five and we lost by three points so that's one we were hoping we would get a chance to get back.

(After they just scored to make it 14-10 could you talk about the next drive where you answered back)
It was the most important drive of the game. Coach had a good call on third down there third and ten. The line was able to give me a little bit of time. I was able to hit Donald across the middle. It was an important time in the game. The crowd was just getting back into it. We needed to give our defense a little bit of a break and get it back to a two score game and we did that.

(talk about the crowd noise)
The crowd in Philly is great. They're great sports fans here. They know when to cheer and when to be loud. It's something we had to deal with. Scott Wells being my extension at center made some great calls tonight and great adjustments and we did a good job picking up their pressure when we had to and we converted those third downs.

(How important was it to have those long drives to take time off the clock)
That hasn't been our forte this year. I think all three of our scoring drives were over ten plays and we cashed in our opportunities in the red zone. We were three for three. That's what we're looking for. When we break down a game and talk about our goals it's being good on third down and being good in the redzone and not turning the ball over. I had a turnover tonight but other than that the other couple we did a good job. I think eight for thirteen on third downs three of three in the red zone.

(talk about your patience in the pocket especially that second touchdown please)
It was actually a screen pass and they covered it up pretty good. I moved to my right and I think Asante had lost where James was. He kinda moved to the pylon. I didn't throw a very good pass but he made a great catch on that.

(Considering how much time James Starks missed this year at what time did you see this sort of contribution being possible)
(smirking) Tonight. I think you saw the potential in him way back when he got here; big, athletic, long strides, elusive. The San Fransisco game when he got his feet wet with seventy three yards and then the next week he doesn't get a whole lot of action against Detroit. Then he was inactive for a game. I think he really learned the last month or so how to be a professional and that it's a seven day a week job and you have to practice well if you're going to play on Sundays. His practice habits have really improved the last month and he's kinda been re-energized and he had a big night for us tonight.

(Do you thinking having to win the last few games of the regular season helped to get you guys on a roll)
No doubt about it. This team had our backs against the wall per se with two games we had to win and came up with two great efforts. We were fortunate to have two home games against two good opponents in the Giants and the Bears. To beat the Giants the way we beat them and then to beat the Bears, we struggled but we beat them, the momentum that we got as a football team especially on defense to hold the Giants to seventeen points and to hold the Bears to three points. Tonight the effort that they put forth. Lot of momentum. Lot of confidence in that locker room and hopefully we can carry that over into another tough environment.

(Could you elaborate what was happening on third downs that contributed to your success)
A couple of times we hit them on some uncovered stuff where they brought pressure and left a couple guys open and the other times we ran the ball better than we have on third and short. John had a big conversion. James ran the ball very well. I think that's where you're going to get the above fifty percent stuff for us. We've been average to below average on those conversions on third and one to five and we did a better job tonight.

(You have a short week. How big a challenge is that with Atlanta getting two weeks off)
I think the biggest challenge is to see where we're at health wise. Hopefully we come out of this game pretty healthy. I think guys appreciate the shorter weeks as long as we're feeling good and we're healthy