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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Postgame Quotes

HEAD COACH GREG SCHIANO

(Opening statement) "It was a tough loss. It was a hard-fought game. Unfortunate the way it ended."

(On containing San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick) "We had opportunities, without a doubt, to stop him and we didn't do it. That's what it boils down to."

(On the reverse kickoff return) "It was a called play. We were going to run a reverse if the opportunity presented itself the right way. It didn't, yet we still ran it, but it's okay. We made a mistake. Guys make mistakes sometimes."

(On offensive struggles) "Today, we weren't effective running the football. That has not been the reason. There's been a lot of different reasons. [We're] playing some really good defenses, but that's what you're going to see if the National Football League. We have to get better. We're just not performing at a consistent enough level now. It's not from a lack of effort, a lack of work, a lack of any of that stuff. These guys are laying it on the line, coaches and players alike. We're just not getting the results that we want all the time."

(On if Tampa Bay quarterback Mike Glennon has taken a step back) "I didn't think he took steps back today. The only way we moved the ball is when we went to two-minute and no-huddle [offenses]. Mike's the one who controlled the whole operation, moving it down the field against, arguably, one of the top three defenses in the league. We didn't perform in some areas, but I thought Mike actually, without watching the tape, gave us the spark."

(On if Glennon should be allowed to do more rather than the offense 'playing around him') "I don't think we're playing around him. I think he's got the full playbook. Can we do more of that [no-huddle offense]? We have done some. What we went to today wasn't just no-huddle, but slow paced and 'get on the line.' It was true no-huddle because that's one thing that, at the end of the half there, we had some success with and we said, 'Let's be ready to jump into it.' We did it all but, I think, one series in the third and fourth quarter. The problem is, as was mentioned, they had a 10-minute drive in the fourth quarter. They played keep away, which is what you worry about with that offensive football team, because they're capable. Again, we had them 20-14 - it's third-and-12 on their own 29-yard line, whatever it was - it's a six-point game with 12 minutes left. The opportunity's there. All week, we talked about making it a fourth-quarter game - heavyweight fight, get it to the fourth quarter and find a way to win. That's why it's very disappointing for players and coaches alike; we felt like we had the opportunity and we let it go. I don't ever like to listen to people - when I'm on the other side of it, when we win - and hear them say, 'We let it slip away.' The other team beat us, and we have to find a way to be on the other end of that. We have been a few times, [but] not enough."

(On San Francisco extending plays on third down) "We've got to execute on those critical downs."

(On if Glennon threw a lot of underneath routes to play it safe) "I wouldn't call it 'playing it safe.' What happens is you have plays designed to get the first down, unless you have a run-and-catch play that's designed, but that wasn't the case in the first half. They were taking away the routes that were beyond the stick, so then you have some outlets that are below the stick so you don't have to take a sack. They did a very good job, as they have. They're one of the top teams in third-down defense and defense in general. You can sense it: The windows close more quickly, without a doubt - just from the sideline you can see it. The better the defense, the faster the windows close."

(On San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree's third down reception in the fourth quarter) "Without seeing the tape, I can't tell you that. I think that we've actually done a pretty good job of that this year - denying your man the ball, just focusing on him once they break and scramble. Sometimes, if you're going against a guy who's as fast [as] or faster than you and he runs away - and you're at a disadvantaged position if the ball's thrown right on the money - you never get to make that area up. Other times, you take your times off him, so I don't know without watching the tape. I can't tell you what happened on that play. I think [what's] more critical is we've got to make sure we keep him in the pocket. Again, we lost contain there and that becomes an issue. You know the guy that you're going against. He can do that. If you give him the opportunity to, he will."

(On San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis' touchdown) "It's the end of the half, we called two-deep zone [coverage] and a great player made a great play. There [was] a bunch of great players out there on that field today. Vernon Davis made a great play. It was an on-the-money throw. It's unfortunate, but that's what you want to be in in that situation."

QUARTERBACK MIKE GLENNON

(On throwing the ball short of the first down marker) "I just go through my progression; if my progression takes me there, that's where I'm going to go. With the style of defense they play we just had to get completions and kind of play that kind of game. We knew it was going to be tough to throw the ball down the field. They have great players and when we were in those third down situations I just went through my progression."

(On if his play has regressed over the last three weeks) "No, [we're] going against one of the top defenses in the league. As an offense we knew we were going to have to get the game into the fourth quarter and we did that. Going against that kind of team you just have to be on top of your game and all throughout the course of the game. Give them some credit, that was a great drive by them in the fourth quarter, 10 minutes, and they played really well. When you play against a team like that, we have to execute throughout the course of the game."

(On if he's disappointed by today's performance) "Obviously, I'm disappointed - we lost. It's about winning and losing, so yeah, I'm disappointed."

(On if the team's rushing struggles made it more challenging for him today) "Again, with that front four and those linebackers, it's just first-rounders, Pro Bowlers across the board, and it's tough. Once we kind of figured out that we needed to go in a hurry-up offense, we saw some success with it. Both of our touchdowns drives, really the first two times we did that we went right down the field and scored. It was a tough, tough loss, but that is a very good football team."

(On why the Buccaneers had two long scoring drives but not much else) "I'm not sure, we'll have to look to see what we did. I just know that those two drives, we went to the hurry-up offense, the one at the end of the half was big for us, down 17 to kind of give us some momentum, [make it] a two-score game. And then the second one, another big drive for us, 90-plus yards or whatever it was, put us down one possession. Like I keep saying, that's a really good defense but we'll have to look at the film to see what we could have done better."

DEFENSIVE TACKLE GERALD MCCOY

(On recording his eighth sack, ranking eighth-most by a defensive tackle in team history) "It feels good. This is a great milestone. It's not easy to reach, but I was able to do it. My teammates played a huge part in it. I didn't do it on my own. But more importantly, I would've preferred to have gotten the win today."

(On San Francisco's offense) "They have a very high-powered offense. They did what they do. They didn't come out and do anything that they don't normally do. They just played the game and they made plays when we didn't. I don't think we tackled well. We gave us a big, long pass to [San Francisco tight end] Vernon Davis. We had them backed up in third-and-15 twice and we let them convert. They just took advantage of all the opportunities."

(On takeaways from today's game) "We have to learn how to win games like that against tough teams. If we want to be the team that we say we want to be, we have to learn how to win the tough games. The game came down to the fourth quarter and we didn't finish. We had them where we wanted them, it was 20-14, all we needed to do was get the ball back and they went on a 10-minute drive. The defense can't allow that. That's happened too many times this year and we have to do better."

WIDE RECEIVER TIM WRIGHT

(On fourth-quarter touchdown drive) "It's a play we practiced all week and everybody did their job on that play. The line held up, other guys ran their routes well, I ran my route well, [quarterback Mike] Glennon delivered and we scored."

(On the fumble that put the 49ers ahead 30-14 ) "There's just something that's unfortunate, but it happens it's football. Things are going to come up, things are going to happen like that, but we have to look past that. We have to correct the mistakes that we did in the first half and second half besides those other things that were misfortunate."

(On Head Coach Greg Schiano's postgame comments to the team) "Stick together. Those are the type of games that we have to close out and just get back to work on Monday."

LINEBACKER DEKODA WATSON

(On the physicality of the game) "We already expected for it to be a physical game, but there's a lot of things that we could have corrected, a lot of things we controlled and didn't take advantage of and a lot of mistakes on our [defensive] part. The Niners definitely took advantage of it and it cost us in the end."

(On San Francisco's long drive in the fourth quarter ending with a field goal) "I think the biggest thing is that field goals they equal points. You get enough of them and it can definitely boost you up and that's exactly what it did [for San Francisco]. We got the red zone stops, but, at the same time, you have to keep them out of that area for the field goal. Like I said, they took advantage of it. Next thing you know the score was up so that's quite unfortunate."

(On San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick) "Definitely a smart quarterback. He can see things, he can throw, he can run. They have a great run offense and they have a lot of weapons out there on offense. They definitely utilized it today."

LINEBACKER LAVONTE DAVID

(On his interception return that was nullified by penalty) "It kind of popped out; we had great quarter technique. I was sliding for it, then I got up, they [teammates] were telling me to run. I didn't hear a whistle so I just ran with it. Come to find out there was a penalty anyways. I cramped up, I didn't know whether I cramped up or not, but you know my legs just didn't feel the same, so I went to the sideline, got worked on, after that I just got better and went right back into the game."

(On the third-and-18 conversion by San Francisco) "It was all on us, man. We got him [Kaepernick] out the pocket. Had a guy chasing him and then he slipped up out of a tackle. He's a great athlete. I think that long stride kind of helped him out and he made a great throw on the run. You just got to take your hat off to him."

WIDE RECEIVER VINCENT JACKSON

(On what San Francisco did on third downs) "The same thing they've showed all year on film. They did a really good blanket coverage, keeping everything in front of them, not really giving up a lot of big plays and they have good athletes that go in there and just try to come up and the tackle."

(On Tampa Bay's performance today) "We left some stuff out there on the field. We wanted to definitely perform better. It's from the top down. We want to put ourselves in the position to be more successful on different plays and obviously, when you're losing eight yards a play and the quarterback's getting pressured and penalties are hurting us a little bit, it makes it tough against a defense like this. It's really hard when you've got a second-and-18, third-and-15, you're going to be behind the eight ball. We'll watch the film, break it down tomorrow and we always have the same mentality that we can improve and we'll continue to do that the rest of this year."

(On having a balance offense) "I think we've had multiple games this year where both [the run and pass] have been effective. We always want to be balanced. Each and every week we come with a game plan where we want to pound the ball, move the ball on the run, three yards, four yards, take our shots when we can and, obviously, get into a good rhythm in the passing game - short passes, protecting the quarterback. Today we just couldn't seem to find that balance, but I still believe we have all the tools and the people in this locker room can get that done."

SAFETY DASHON GOLDSON

( (On playing against his old teammates) "It was good to see them. I wanted to beat them, but they did a good job by coming in here and winning the football game."

(On San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick) "We saw it all on film, and me just being here, I try to emphasize that we make sure we contain this guy because he can make some things happen with his feet when we drop back in coverage. We knew what kind of player he was coming into this game. He was as dangerous with his feet as he was with his arm. We just had to contain him [and do] a better job in tight coverage."

CORNERBACK DARELLE REVIS

(On San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick) "He's a great athlete. They're a great football team."

(On San Francisco's offense) "They made great plays and Kaepernick made great throws. There's just really nothing you can really say. They made more plays than us."

(On if Tampa Bay missed tackles) "We made some missed tackles today. We knew this was going to be a physical game. We missed a couple tackles here and there and it cost us."

(On having to be on the field for extended periods of time) "It's tough, it's very tough. You want to get three-and-outs all the time, consistently, but that didn't happen. We ended up being on the field longer on some long drives and that can tire a defense out, especially with the great offense they have. But, we've got to get off the field. We failed to do that in those long drives."

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