What Dallas Cowboys coach, quarterback said after upsetting Tampa Bay Bucs on SNF
After the Dallas Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-24 on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium, coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Cooper Rush met with the media. Here’s what they had to say, courtesy of the Cowboys media relations staff.
Coach Mike McCarthy
On finding out the team had been eliminated from the playoffs before the game
“I mean before the game was a real punch in the gut, to say the least, just because of the way the Washington-Philadelphia game went. But, you just kind of take that moment to sit back and watch, and watched how the guys warmed up, watch the interactions in the locker room. And, you know, it wasn’t much different than a normal game. You just want to keep your mind in it too, you know. And stay focused. I’ll tell you, I thought our guys did a hell of a job. I mean, the only thing we really changed was, we came into the game, and we have a game management meeting every Friday, and have a plan on the coin toss. The decision was to defer today, based off the variables we go through. And then you just said, ‘Hey, let’s take the ball. Let’s get up, get going, and get this thing started the right way.’ I thought it was good the offense went out there and got some points on the board. I just love the way our team plays. I can’t say enough about the locker room. You know, their pride, their character, their toughness, resiliency. Defensively, when you had to have it with the takeaways here in the fourth quarter. I mean, it’s remarkable just to see the bounce back. Give Tampa a lot of credit, I have a lot of respect for Todd Bowles. That’s a hell of a football team. Offensively, we were able to get some points on the board there in the first half, but boy their run defense, that was a grind. It was definitely not a bright spot for us, but when teams play for one another like we have been the past month, you win games and that’s the reality of this league. It is so hard to win a game in this league, but I just can’t say enough about the character of our football team. And really, there was no blink. I think once we got the game kicked off, we just fell into the way we planned on playing, regardless of what happened before we went out there. That’s what that’s what it felt like.”
On Jerry Jones hugging him in the locker room and what Jerry said to him after the game
“Jerry hugs me all the time, I don’t know why it’s such a big deal. No, winning is hard. It’s a partnership. We just talked about the game and just what a great effort it was from the players and coaches, and just how proud he is of the team.”
On if he let the team know about the outcome of the Washington-Philadelphia contest before the game
“I did not. I think everybody, I would say just the way people arrived here. I get here early, so just like I said, I just sat back and watched as people arrived. And there wasn’t a whole lot of conversation about it, probably more one on one. You know, it wasn’t, I didn’t think it was something that needed to be addressed because frankly I just wanted to check it and go. I made the point before the game, just play the way we always play. We’ve been playing really damn good football this past four or five weeks, stack success, grind this thing out. Just some of the things we talked about this morning in the team meeting. The only thing that got changed was taking the football, that was the only adjustment we made.”
On Nick Vigil playing and if he’s practiced much this season
“No, just the schedule he’s on, he’s in the rehab group. But I think it shows you where he is as a football player. Very cerebral, but man so instinctive. He’s been super impressive. Just as you stated, Wednesday was winter schedule Wednesday. But yeah, he doesn’t do the heavy day because of what he’s dealing with. So, very impressive performance tonight.”
On if he thought this was Cooper Rush’s best game of the season
“Yeah, definitely. I’ll be honest, just coming into the game through the game plan, process with Brian Schottenheimer, the assistant coaches, we felt that he was going to have to play well. It was going to be very important for him to play well, because of the pressure and just the overload schemes. And then they stack it up against you in the run game. They challenge you to throw it. And so, tried to stay true to the runs, it was ugly at times. But you know, we were able to get some green grass throws off, I wish I probably would’ve called more of them. I thought we had a couple blitz, particularly during those last two series in the fourth quarter, we had a couple blitz adjustments that we didn’t convert. The outcome may have been a little differently for us offensively. But that’s football. You know, they’re a good team. They’ve been playing really well their last five games. I think I said this in a media session, I think it’s one of the better teams that we’ve played this year.”
On if he considered a field goal from the Tampa Bay 48-yard line
“The 48? How far would that field goal have been? When you’re playing with somebody else’s money you take that kick. That was the right decision. I had a lot of faith in our defense.”
On his appreciation for the effort the team has shown
“I appreciate everything these players do. It’s just a continuation, and it’s just an example of what they put into it. So, I can’t say enough about these players, all NFL players. Especially the men that I have the privilege of working with. What these guys go through every single day is not normal. I mean they run down the field and run into each other as fast as they can. It’s not a normal way to make a living. This is a hard game. The emotional part of it is a challenge. And that was, that was a kick in the gut for everybody. The timing obviously wasn’t great for us, but I just think it just shows you the resiliency and resolve of the team. I thought we warmed up okay and frankly I just felt that hey, we’re going to have to make our own music tonight. Let’s take the ball and try to get this thing started. And I thought when the crowd got into it, I would think watching it on TV was probably a hell of a game to watch. I know I enjoyed it.”
On how impressed he is with Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer’s aggressive play calling
“Well, that’s why he’s here. That’s the man that I was able to compete against all those years. And this is how we want to play on defense. It’s tough, especially when you’re trying to take away Mike Evans and those things like that. But once again, he called it strong, and our guys came up with the takeaways. The takeaways won the game. Not only did they win the game, but the timing of it in the fourth quarter, when the game was on the line, that’s just remarkable. The way our guys just went after it and got it done.”
On how the news before the game impacted the team
“I don’t know about lighting a fire, I mean, there’s a sense of disappointment. It’s a challenge and discipline to focus. I know I had to do it myself and I just commend our players and coaches for just staying locked in and going out and getting this win tonight.”
On how Cooper Rush has evolved this season
“Cooper is so consistent in everything that he does. And I think you’ve just seen a man take full advantage of his opportunities. And what I love about Cooper is, you look at his performance, it’s improved every week because he’s always prepared properly. He’s an ace in the quarterback room, as far as getting ready each and every week even when he wasn’t the starter. So now you’re getting to see him get the reps, which is a little harder with the winter schedule. You don’t get as many reps and so forth. And I think our passing game was good enough for us to win in that area today. So, we just got to get back to running it and throwing it with some balance.”
On the resiliency of the team to win today and possibly win the next two games to finish 9-8 this season
“I like the sound of it. I appreciate exactly how it ends up. I really do. I’m just really focused on beating Philadelphia right now. Tomorrow’s a Tuesday for us coaches, so we’ve got to get in there and get that plan together and bring the players in on Tuesday because it’s a Wednesday for them. These are division games too. That’s the beauty of playing Philadelphia and Washington at the end. I love that the schedule ends up like this. I think it was a great thing the league has done. They’re obviously playing for something else that we’re playing for. At the end of the day, we have every intention of going to Philadelphia to win.”
On how the Philadelphia game being early impacted the team’s morale
“I didn’t really analyze it that that well. Disappointment is disappointment.”
On Cooper Rush, Jourdan Lewis, CeeDee Lamb not giving up
“Jourdan, you think about the injury he had, just to come back from that and the way he’s played the last two years, that’s probably the biggest moment or the biggest play of the year, his interception. That was huge. That was a huge play. I’m so proud of CeeDee just fighting to get back in there. It just tells you about him. Obviously, we were in and out and trying to get back to some things, because we felt like he was going to have some opportunities today, and we were able to get him out there on a couple of them. I just think that shows you who they are. I think everybody says the coach is always talking highly of the locker room. Well, this is what I’m talking about. When I talk about ‘it’s a great locker room’, this is the definition of it. This is what a great locker room looks like. And it’s a mixture of men from all over the country, all over the world and different personalities. Obviously, in circumstances that we’ve discussed at length already, but when it came time to play, they played their asses off and I can’t tell you how proud I am.”
On what the players fight and resiliency says about how he’s done
“I don’t know. Like I said, I’m proud of everybody that stuck to the course and I think this is how we roll. Merry Christmas.”
Quarterback Cooper Rush
On being eliminated from the playoffs…
“I’m assuming we all knew when we watched the end of the Washington game, crazy ending, but that’s when you knew. That just shows the type of guys are in the locker room. Everyone’s out there, competing, fighting to win, playing for each other. That showed up tonight. Both sides of the ball stepping up when they needed to. The defense in the fourth quarter, unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
On locker room’s attitude after being eliminated…
“The guys in the locker room that we have, I don’t think it takes much. That’s just who we are and Mike’s (McCarthy) created that culture over the years. A lot of players with a lot of wins in that locker room over the last three seasons. So, we know what it’s about. We know who we are as competitors and when you’re playing football, you’re competing to win.”
On how he found out the Cowboys were eliminated…
“Just watching on the drive in. Crazy ending.”
On if he was driving…
“I was listening.”
On offensive aggression in the first half…
“We knew they were gonna load the box. That’s their operation. All night you got nine-man boxes with heavy personnel, things like that. That’s just kind of what they do. S,o we knew we had to jump out there early and get some play action going and get down the field.”
On spreading the ball and getting everyone involved…
“Guys were stepping up. The backs were doing a great job. Rico (Dowdle) did a great job of getting out fast when his protection things weren’t there. He caught a few checkdowns that way. Our screen game was good and whoever was in there, they made the catches they needed to. JT (Jalen Tolbert) makes a great one, a great route when his number’s called for the touchdown. Flo (Ryan Flournoy) makes one over the middle. We come back to CeeDee for another go ball, he makes it. So, it was guys just stepping up when their numbers were called.”
On ability to push the ball downfield…
“I just think we had a good plan going in. The defense dictates a lot of that stuff, and I think Mike (McCarthy) did an unbelievable job. We got some great looks. Took advantage of them loading the box up and guys got running downfield and making plays.”
On playing in a contract year…
“It’s game-by-game. You don’t have time to look too far ahead or things like that. When you’re out there, you’re not thinking about anything. You’re just playing and you prep all week to go out there and play and play well and that’ll take care of itself.”
On CeeDee Lamb’s toughness…
“He’s a warrior. That guy is as tough as they come. He’s out there, moving him around, throwing it to him or handing it to him. It felt real good to get him down the field tonight. He’s been doing a lot of shorter stuff, throwing screens, yards after catch and tonight he showed what he can do down the field too.”
On trust from Mike McCarthy to take the ball early…
“As an offense, we’re all for it. We said it right before we went out there and was definitely pumped about it. I think the whole offense was pumped about it. It’s never fun getting ready to go out there, then you hope it’s a three-and-out. But you want the ball right away.”
On the defensive effort…
“Those guys have been playing their butts off. Even the guys who stepped in today. (Eric) Kendricks has been out. Nick (Vigil) in there. You can look all the way up and down the team, guys stepping up, playing well and they’re creating turnovers. They’re going and attacking that ball and our job’s to capitalize on them. We got enough points there in the first half and early in the third, but they bailed us out there in the fourth. A team win.”
On what’s to play for…
“Everything. This is your life. This is ball. This is what you do. You get paid to do it. I don’t think people need much more motivation.”
On Jourdan Lewis’ interception…
“J Lew (Jourdan Lewis) just showing off his veteran presence there. To not panic in that situation for a defensive back is huge. He’s got tremendous ball skills. He’s played a long time to not panic and a lot of times you see that’s pass interference. He doesn’t panic. Punch through the pocket and just, I didn’t really get a great look at it. I guess he just ripped it away from the guy. But it was a big time, game saving play.”
On DaRon Bland’s forced fumble…
“Our guys have been hunting that ball. You can see it when they tackle. You can see the physicality they bring when they hit. It’s producing fumbles.”
On Brandon Aubrey…
“He is a true weapon. We are definitely spoiled. I took a sack. You take a sack, not too major. You think ‘oh crap we’re out of field goal range’. You’re like ‘oh we’re on the 40’. He says, he goes ‘it’s good, it’s more yards for me’. That’s what he said. So it’s a weapon. Between him and Turp (Kavontae Turpin) gets you field position. You get a few first downs and you’re in field goal range. Those guys are doing a great job.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 12:40 AM.