BUCCANEERS HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY
"First, I guess I would like to take my hat off to the Bears for making the playoffs. They played an outstanding game today. They took it to us in every way. They played with a lot of energy and played well. I thought we played with energy, but we didn't play well enough to keep going with them. To lose a game of this magnitude, a game that meant so much, by this score is disappointing. It's not discouraging. We have to come back next week and bounce back. We still have a shot to do some things this year, but it was definitely disappointing. The turnovers obviously hurt us. They forced them and created them and we couldn't take advantage of it and score. They made the big plays. They made the plays to score touchdowns and that's what the game was all about today."
on Keyshawn Johnson's fumble: "We had a lot of opportunities. They get two touchdowns, both where we have guys double covered and they get touchdown passes. We get a big play and maybe get down in close and tighten the score back up, and instead of that, (the Bears) get the ball going the other way. That's what happens when you hustle. Good things happen and they are a hustling team that is playing well and making their games."
on the running game: "We have to keep working on it. This time of year, you have to be able to stop the run, you have to be able to run it, you have to create some yourself and take care of the ball, and we didn't really do any of those things today. We had some runs early in the game. Had we scored touchdowns, maybe it would have been a little different, but we didn't do that. We didn't run well enough or defend the run well enough."
on the Bears' big plays: "I think they just got the energy going, and if there is anything disappointing, that was it, that we didn't go up there when things got bad. We didn't step up and keep them from controlling the clock and controlling the game and they just got the momentum on us."
on the loss: "We haven't had a loss like this in a long time, where basically at ten minutes in the third quarter, we are out of it. We weren't able to stop them and get the ball back to our offense in the fourth quarter. It was disappointing. Only getting three points was disappointing. It's a tough loss, but we are sitting at 7-6. We basically have got to come home and beat New Orleans. We've been in must-win situations for a long time."
on the upcoming New Orleans game: "We've opened up Pandora's Box in the run defense. New Orleans and Ricky Williams, I'm sure, will look at this tape, so we've got to look at it, make the corrections, see what the problem was and go back to work on Wednesday."
BEARS HEAD COACH DICK JAURON
"I'd like to congratulate our fans, our organization. I'd like to congratulate our players and the staff, too. I can't tell you how happy I am for everybody that we've at least clinched a playoff berth. It is something that we've certainly worked a long time towards. We've got a lot of work in front of us obviously but it's a great feeling in that locker room.
"I thought our defense did a tremendous job. We made big plays. We got some bounces, there's no doubt about that. Knocking the ball out after a big play. The guys just came through as they've done all year."
on the replay of Marty Booker's touchdown: "When I saw it on the scoreboard, it looked like a touchdown to me. Obviously, we wanted the seven (points) instead of having to kick it for three (points), so it certainly helped us.
"It was a big play. It was an unbelievable catch and a throw that was right in the corner. (The Jumbotron replay) helped, but our people upstairs said they thought he caught it, too. It wasn't the Jumbotron, but it definitely helped."
on whether anything was new on offense this week: "We didn't install anything new for this week. That's our offense. That's what we do. We did open the game up throwing the ball. We did want to do that and we knew we'd definitely get back to the run. We knew we had to run the ball to win, but we wanted to start the game throwing."
on how much the Bears deserve to be in the playoffs: "As I've said so many times, this is a wonderful group of guys. They work. They come to work every day. I don't think they've ever really doubted themselves. I don't know a group I've been around that deserves the playoffs more than this group. They've worked to get in. They've worked every week and they've earned their way in. I'm very happy for them."
