TITANS 34, DOLPHINS 3
Q. Obviously, you expected this to be a physical game, but they rushed for 198 yards on you. What happened from a defensive standpoint?
BRIAN FLORES: I think they did a good job. Credit the Titans. They had a good plan. I thought we did some good things early, and they made some adjustments. We had some missed tackles and guys out of gaps. They took advantage. We've got to do a better job.
Q. Coach, could you put into words the totality of what this team is feeling right now, fighting all the way back into the playoff picture to now being on the brink of elimination?
BRIAN FLORES: Look, any time you don't have the performance you are looking for, you are disappointed, but this group, they're going to stick together, support one another, get back out there tomorrow and make the corrections tomorrow, prepare for another big game next week.
Q. Brian, curious what kind of impact do you think the weather conditions and field position had on the outcome of this game? It looked like Tua's, specifically, ball security was a little, I guess, less secure than usual.
BRIAN FLORES: Yeah, there was rain. It was slick. Regardless of that, we have to do a good job of protecting the football. That's always our number one priority. We have got to do a better job protecting it. It's always a top priority, and, look, they had the same elements we had and we were dealing with. Even playing field from that standpoint. We have to do a better job.
Q. I actually wanted to ask you about Tannehill and the blitzes. They weren't necessarily effective against him, or you guys didn't utilize them as much. Was that the game plan? What weren't the Titans doing to neutralize the pressure?
BRIAN FLORES: The run game was part of that. We have to get them in a situation where -- we try to get people in situations where we believe it's going to be a pass, so obviously, the run game and the success running it kind of neutralizes some of that. They had a plan for a lot of it from a protection standpoint.
Q. I wanted to ask about the play where there appeared to be a fumble in Tennessee territory that Ogbah came out of the pile with. What was the explanation you received there, and was that something you could challenge?
BRIAN FLORES: Yeah. They said it came out of it as blue ball.
Q. Also, Austin Jackson was out quickly for a series. Solomon Kindley, and then Jackson came back in. What happened there?
BRIAN FLORES: Austin just had to come out for a series. Solomon, obviously, backs him up, and he went back in when he was ready.
Q. Brian, I'm curious, did you get an explanation for the no pass interference call on DeVante there on that fourth and 11?
BRIAN FLORES: He said he didn't see a hook, and it's his call.
Q. You come into this game with an opportunity to control your own playoff destiny. How much was that something that you guys were thinking about this week. And then, given the loss, how discouraging is it to have an opportunity like this and then put out a performance like that?
BRIAN FLORES: Every week we put our best foot forward. We try to have a good performance. It's no different this week. I think our guys prepared the right way. We had a good week of practice. Titans are a good team. They had a good plan. We didn't play well enough in any phase, and that starts with me. Didn't coach them well enough either. We'll go back and make the corrections and try to play better next week.
Q. Coach, you mentioned earlier about the missed tackles, and you mentioned about just some of the mistakes. Is that the most frustrating thing as you prepare your team as you always do every week? What happened today along those lines whether they were made mistakes or miscues?
BRIAN FLORES: I think it always comes back to fundamentals, technique, tackling, breaking tackles, blocking the guys, defeating blocks. We can come up with all the -- you have a plan, but at the end of the day that's what football boils down to. We have to take care of those fundamentals, and we had some communication issues as well against good team. We have to take care of all those little things or else they take advantage.
Q. When the game was still within reach, one of the offensive plays that stands out to me is the stack that was taken on third down that created a 53-yard field goal that was then missed. What was your perspective on that situation in that play?
BRIAN FLORES: I think it was a third and nine on the 50 yard line. Yeah, you don't want to sack in that situation and create a longer field goal, which we ended up missing. We have to execute better and protect better. We have to get open quicker. We weren't able to do that. It led to a sack and lost a couple of yards. It was a difference in the field goal, especially with the weather.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports