Head coach Mike SmithOpening Statement:
"In terms of the ball game today, we put ourselves in some tough situations, especially early on in the first half of the game. We were 1-5 on third downs, and were not able to get anything going offensively. In converse on the defensive side of the ball we had a tough time slowing them down. I thought we fought back in the second half and tied the score up, but I believe we continued to have woes on third down on both sides of the football. Third and longs, giving them up on the defensive side, having some critical drops on the offensive side, and we weren't able to score any points in the fourth quarter of the football game. When you don't score in the fourth quarter it's tough to win, especially the way this game went. With that I'll open it up for questions…"
On the offense only scoring three touchdowns in the past nine quarters:
"We are not playing very efficiently, in terms of completing third downs. We were 4-13 on third downs today, and you can't have that type of percentage. We have to protect our quarterback better. We got him hit entirely too many times. I believe he was sacked four times and was hit multiple times. Those are the areas that we have to address. We were outgained in this football game by almost 200 yards, not nearly good enough."
On the receivers dropping passes:
"It doesn't concern me that it's a veteran player, or a young player, we've got to complete balls. We got to make the play when the plays are presented to us. We had some opportunities today, and we did not get that done."
On if he has the talent to play better than this:
"Absolutely."
On why they aren't playing better then:
"That's a very valid question, and I'll go right back to what I said. When you don't convert on third down offensively, you're not going to be able to sustain drives. When you give up explosive plays – their first scoring drive they had a big 47 yarder on third down and eight; they also had a 13 yard and another 12 yard play. It was just given up yardage in quick chunks, and that's not going to get it done. We've got to be more efficient, and proficient in all areas of our football team."
On when he'll step in and say what we are doing on defense is not working:
"We've played very inconsistently on defense throughout the entire season, and we haven't played nearly up to our potential on the offensive side of the football either. I don't think anything is off the table in terms of what we've got to get done. These are the guys that we have on our football team. We have to coach them better. They have to play better. We're all in this together."
On whether they had a good week of practice:
"We had a very good week of practice. Wednesday was an outstanding day of practice. I thought the training that we went through this week, not only on the field, but in the meeting rooms was very productive, and we did not carry it to the football field. I think that it is a trend for our football team for in 2014. The consistency is a major concern."
On what he can do to get the defense playing better:
"We have to look at everything. We have to do a better job of rushing the quarterback. I thought that we moved him some. When he moved we weren't good with our rush lanes, so the quarterback was able to extend some plays. We had busted coverage. You don't give up the explosive plays that we have given up without having the mental errors. Very rarely do you see a team make a perfect throw and a perfect catch, we've got to be much better. Our young players, our old players have all contributed to this, and we have to get it fixed, and nothing is off the table in regards to what we have to do to be better."
On the confusion in the secondary:
"Again, I'm not going to talk about specific players. Obviously, there was some confusion on some deep routes, and we've got to be much better at it. They weren't always the same coverage; they were different coverages, and we have to make sure that we are seeing it the same way."
On this being a resilient team and if the upcoming series of road games will prove that:
"I think it will. I think it will show how tough these guys are. The schedule makers make the schedule, we have to go out and play the games. I think it will test our resiliency as we go through these next five weeks."
On the Bears three-play 80 yard drive in the second half:
"That was probably the turning point in the game. Absolutely the turning point in the game. You can't fight back from a 10 point deficit coming out at halftime, starting fast and end up giving up the big touchdown that quickly in the second half. We've got be better across the board as a football team."
On what he tells the guys moving forward:
"Tell them that it's a lot of football to be played just like I told them before this week. There's a whole lot of football to be played, and the teams that play effectively and efficiently they're the ones that are going to be in the mix. We've got to play more effectively and more efficiently than we have over the last three weeks."
Quarterback Matt RyanOn the performance of the offense the past nine quarters:
"We have got to play better, first and foremost, I think across the board. We've had opportunities really in the past two weeks to make more plays than we have. I don't think we have to reinvent the wheel, we just have to play better. Starting with myself, when there's opportunities to convert and make plays, we've got to do it."
On how the team was dealing with the dropped passes and long runs of the opposing team:
"That's part of the game. Sometimes some mistakes are going to happen. You've got to battle through those types of things. I think with some of this we put ourselves behind schedule a little bit on offense, first and second down. Really without talking about last week, talking about this week, we didn't do good enough on the third down. When you put yourself behind and you keep putting yourself in third and longs, it's tough to keep converting them. Historically we've been pretty good on third down. We haven't been good enough. We certainly weren't good enough today."
On the amount of rushes in the game:
"When you get in third and long situations it's tough to run the ball. Also, in some of the situations we put ourselves behind schedule in first and second down penalties and mistakes put us in some tough down and distant situations where when you're first and 30 you are going to have to throw it three times to try and pick it up. We can't keep putting ourselves behind the sticks."
On knowing the team has the ability to play better:
"We feel like we've got the guys to do it but the key to success is doing it, not just feeling like you can do it. I think that we've got to find a way to get it done. Our preparation has been solid. Our performance hasn't been where it needs to be. This week and moving forward we've got to find ways to make sure our performance is better on Sundays."
On his message to a veteran player who has constant drops:
"Just shake it off. Those kinds of things happen. It's tough when those things happen multiple times in one game. I've made plenty of poor throws myself. You have got to shake those off and move past them. You have to go back out there and make the play next time it presents itself."
On the long stretch of away games coming up:
"We are six games into it and certainly we haven't played the way we are capable of up until this point. A lot of football is still left in front of us. We've got to have a sense of urgency and it starts this week. We've got a tough stretch coming up and we can't worry about it and we can't complain about it. We've got to go out there and find a way to get the job done. I think that's what everyone's mindset at this point needs to be. Whatever you need to do to get yourself right and ready to go, we've got to do that."
On if a couple of plays went differently if the game would have gone differently:
"Absolutely, I think it's never as good and never as bad. Again, we've got to make those plays and keep making those plays in game situations and in critical situations in order to win football games."
On the vantage point of what the offense sees that the fans don't (specifically getting the ball to RB Antone Smith): "I think he's doing a great job. Obviously, when he gets the ball in his hands he certainly makes a lot of plays. He's taking full advantage of that. I'm sure as we move forward; we are always trying to find ways to get the ball in space with the guys we feel can make the plays. We feel like we've got a lot of them, we really do. We're trying to get them the ball and when he gets it in his hands he is making a lot of plays."
