Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Brian Daboll

Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: What happened at the end of the first half?

A: Had a play called, it was a run action pass play and ended up alerting it to a run. Didn't get it off.

Q: You were able to neutralize some things out of this Buffalo Bills team, you guys dealt with a lot of injuries. How proud of you with the way the guys fought and battled out there today?

A: Yeah, I mean you don't get trophies for trying so I appreciate their efforts. We moved some o-line guys around, we practiced some of it like that just in case it happened. We put (guard Justin) Pugh out at tackle, he hasn't played tackle since 2019, we moved (guard Mark) Glowinski back over, (guard Marcus) McKethan but it's the National Football League. Came down to one yard and just missed it. Didn't get it.

Q: In the first half did you communicate to (quarterback) Tyrod (Taylor) that you couldn't run the ball in that moment?

A: There was communication, yep.

Q: Why did it happen?

A: He saw a look based on the play that we had, and he ended up alerting it.

Q: Ended up what?

A: Ended it up alerting it to a run.

Q: Do you wish you would've saved some of your timeouts or one of your timeouts for that moment? Or why were you using them running the ball up to that point?

A: That's what we decided to do. You always like to hold timeouts but yeah, didn't work out.

Q: Did you have a good look at the last play? It was some that thought he was held on the last play.

A: Yeah, it wasn't called.

Q: Did you think about running the ball on that last play?

A: It was some discussion, but we'd been stopped on two third-and-one's. We'd been stopped on the goal line at the end of the half, so I thought it was a good call by (offensive coordinator) Mike (Kafka).

Q: I know one time you did the tush push and it didn't work but you'd had success with that in the past, why not use that in that moment?

A: I thought we had the right play called, Kafka I thought had a good play and just didn't hit on it.

Q: (Inaudible)

A: It was a run action pass so it's a similar run, different personnel groups. Double team run where we're hoping they would all suck up on (running back) Saquon (Barkley) and give a one-on-one to (tight end) Darren Waller.

Q: You know as well as anybody how good (Bills quarterback) Josh Allen is. To hold him to 14 points, what do you leave here thinking about?

A: We didn't get the job done so I thought we had a good plan defensively; it was a lot of preparation and a lot of good communication throughout the week of how we wanted to play him and I thought we played him well. He made a heck of a play there on a scramble. Came down to a yard. It was obviously a few more plays obviously in there. I thought Tyrod, I thought the guys battled, tough environment, great atmosphere, just came up a yard short.

Q: If Saquon wanted a chance to get that one in would you understand that?

A: Yeah, sure but again, we got stopped on two third-and-one's and we got stopped at the end of the half so I think the play call that Mike had was the right play call.

Q: Do you feel the positives of this game, or do you not buy into that at this moment?

A: Yeah, it's hard to. You know it was a competitive game. I thoguth we competed hard, obviously you'd always like a few plays back but it's a tough one. They're all tough, you put a lot into it. This is a hell of a football team that we played, in a great environment, a tough place to play and 60 minutes, zero time on the clock. It's a tough one.

Q: How much did the familiarity that you have with these guys as far as the personnel play a little bit to that advantage?

A: They know our calls but it was definitely communication throughout the week relative to the offense. I thought (defensive coordinator) Wink (Martindale) put together a good plan. The defensive staff, we know we talked a lot, (inaudible), gave them good looks. He's a tough guy to defend and he made a couple plays there at the end that we were close on. It came down to they've got a good defense – you know, they're a good football team. That's why they've won their division for so many years. We competed, I thought we competed hard, right down obviously to the end. Jump ball there to try to win it.

Q: What did you see from this team tonight that you haven't seen?

A: Again, it's hard to say because we didn't get the job done in terms of finishing and getting the win. But we've had the right mindset, we've done a good job of taking care of the ball, we've done a good job of getting the ball, we're making small strides, but we don't want to hear about small strides, we want to get the results and that's what we're going to work for. So, competitive game against again, a really tough opponent. Good on third down, they were good on third down. It was pretty even but they were two of two in the redzone, and we got down there four times and we didn't put it in. That's really the difference in the game was the ability to punch it in in the redzone.

Q: What did you make of Tyrod's play despite the chaos?

A: I thought he had a really good week of preparation. He's a pro, I'm glad we have him. I thought he did a heck of a job tonight, I thought he did a heck of a job.

Q: You mentioned not getting in from the redzone. You're now three-plus games without scoring an offensive touchdown. How do you make sense of that?

A: I'm just focused on tonight here and disappointed that we didn't finish it.

Q: I know you wanted to come back home and steal one back home but the way the guys played, how do you build from that?

A: Thanks, appreciate that. Got a division game coming up so again, this is a tough one. They're all tough when you don't get the results you want but they guys have had the right mindset, come back and ready to work. Put this one behind us but it's a tough one. I appreciate you.

Q: You shut them out in the first half. With that offense to hold them to zero points, what was your game plan and how did you guys slow them down?

A: Again, I'd say there were a lot of conversations, a lot of practice during the week. I always think familiarity does help a little bit, whether it's the scheme or the players but ultimately the players have to go out there and execute. I thought our players executed so when you execute, usually good things happen and when you don't, you don't.

Q: I guess Saquon wasn't on a pitch count.

A: He was good to go. I mean, we didn't have much going there in the running game for a while. It was tough sledding, wasn't very many yards, it was on a lot of carries but stayed with it, which I think was important relative to our team and he broke off a couple of long ones there that helped us.